The Missionary
by T-SilverWolf
Summary: Kathrine Stoneriver is a young priestess in service to Chauntea who's fallen into a portal, taking her on a whirlwind tour of the multi-verse. Along the way she makes a new friend who has a secret and holds a relic that can give someone anything they want, even godhood. Yet the people she's stolen it from not only want it back, but know her secret and won't stop until it's silenced
1. Volume 1: Prologue ::Revised::

The Missionary

Volume 1 - Prologue

* * *

Author's Note: Hey there and welcome to The Missionary. What follows, for this particular chapter is the revised (arguably much better!) first chapter of the story. If you enjoy what you read, please feel free to leave a review. If something doesn't work out for you by all means let me know! I hope you find this as entertaining to read as I have in writing it!

* * *

_2/15/1381_

"_It was the start of the warming season this week but my offer to help Eveningstar was summarily ignored yet again. . . I tried to approach Lord Winters but she wasn't remotely interested in seeing me and my best efforts to speak to the farmers. Those people that tried to help raise me when my parents were murdered, I'm not the same person to them any more. I walk through the village and people ignore my presence or look down on me when they think I can't tell. I have friends, of course, mostly the children I used to babysit when the war came but if their parents let them out to greet me at all it's short lived and the warmth quickly dies when they tell me about the 'horrible monster' their parents tell them that I've become. _

_I can't help what she did to herself. I tried to help her, I really did. I loved her because of who she was inspite of those things she'd done. I believed that she could have become more and I am __not__ ashamed of that. I won't be, because I know that at Her very core, Chauntea's teaches us about growth and the cycle of life that is innate in everything we do. Yes, she sold her soul, but dammit she __tried__ to do better. She tried._

_She tried. And nobody but me believed in her._

_I am not ashamed."_

-Diary of Kathrine Stoneriver

It had started with one bottle of mead.

She knew better. It always _started_ that way.

Yet she sat there staring blankly at what she'd written with her quill poised over the damp page ready to stab at it again to somehow give meaning to the swirl of words behind her eyes. Their meanings were constantly in flux and just _how_ they went together felt like a mystery she needed to explore to take her mind off of what'd already gone past. How could she have given Jezebel's life any more meaning without opening it to the scrutiny of judgment by her logical mind- that stupid voice that insisted she'd been a fool to try to help the damned woman in the first place. What gave her that right?

Kathrine picked up one of the half dozen empty bottles near her and tipped it up trying to suck the last drop of nectar from the beveled glass. She just wanted it to go away for a while. That stupid voice. That stupid, _stupid_ voice.

The voice that said redemption was possible.

Tears welled up in her eyes when she slammed the bottle down with righteous anger but her feeble strength was no match for the sturdy glass and instead of creating the _thunk_ she knew it should've sounded like, the bottle simply clinked on the polished table top. Much like her life, there was just too much lacking for it to leave any solid, meaningful impact.

"Hey. . . Long day?" A soft voice whispered from her left and despite everything that Kathrine wanted to say, the only thing she could do was weep. It just needed to come out. She was done smiling, she was done laughing, she just wanted _peace_ for a day. Was that too much to ask for?

A slender hand came to rest on Kathrine's back before rubbing her shoulders back and forth in a slow pattern that only registered on the fringes of her mind but in another moment an arm came around her shoulders and someone was pulling her into a hug. She didn't flinch away though her mind wanted to. The arms pulled her into warmth and didn't let go when she tried to pull away, they were gentle and tender yet Kathrine couldn't see who they belonged to. "It's okay, sweety. . . Let it out."

She did. For a long time she wept in the strangers arms to the sound of a soft cooing whisper telling her everything was alright. Maybe it was her mother, maybe she'd look up and see her light blonde hair and button nose, smiling down at her little girl with that odd twinkle she got whenever she knew she was right. Kathrine sniffled and turned her head into soft flesh of her bosom and abruptly froze. She knew something was wrong, the part of her that _wanted_ to believe was dying and slowly she came into an understanding of what it was she was actually doing. She didn't want to let go of the woman's warmth but this wasn't right, it wasn't fair to her. But so what? She was entitled to being selfish once in a while too, wasn't she?

Slowly Kathrine opened her eyes and looked up to see a smiling face looking down at her framed by waves of coppery red hair and a curious pair of half moon glasses resting at the very edge of her nose. Her eyes were a deep set green full of vitality and intelligence yet also holding a gentle understanding that spoke of years beyond her apparent mid twenties. Her warmth was reassuring yet her eyes even more so, drawing out the secrets Kathrine wanted to share, pulling on those strings that told her everything _wasn't_ alright. She didn't have to speak to tell Kat that she was there for her if she needed anything, it was implied in her arms as the breath lingered into a moment between them. She smiled softly and reached up, stroking Kat's hair out of her eyes. "Feel better?"

She sniffed. "Not really. . ."

The woman's fingers traced little lines through her hair, furrowing neatly spaced rows through her platinum blonde mess. She suddenly became acutely aware of not having brushed her hair before coming out of her room but she couldn't bring herself to care right at that moment. "All things pass in time, sweety. Wanna talk about it?"

How could she? How could she explain to a complete stranger what they'd gone through to bring Jezebel to the light. How, in the end, it'd meant nothing at all. Her voice cracked the second she opened her mouth choking out a timid whimper through sheer force of will more than any conscious effort to speak. "I'm sorry, I. . . I don't."

"It's okay." The woman's voice didn't change in the least from its warm, reassuring tone, even as she slid herself closer to Kathrine and pulled her into a warm hug. "It's okay."

Kat closed her eyes and wrapped her arms around the woman's silk covered back, resting her chin on her shoulder. The scents of vanilla, lilac and jasmine with a soft undertone of bathing oils fluttered through the tight space between them, filling Kathrine's mind with images of a warm bed in a quiet place far away from Arabel, far away from even Eveningstar. It was her private sanctuary from the world and it existed nowhere but in her mind. There was _always_ vanilla there. She nuzzled into the scent drawing in a deep breath and sighing it out along with her wordly concerns. That'd be her private place and no one would take it.

"Sweety?"

Kathrine flinched. "Uh. S- sorry."

"Don't be." The woman stroked her back. "You looked like you needed it."

Slowly she managed to open her eyes, surveying the room around her. Most of the other patrons of the planar bar were busy with their own conversations and introspections; a sphinx was playing chess with some elven man who looked like a wizard while opposite them a blonde haired man in a dusty looking overcoat was nursing a bottle of water in front of a book. He cast a glance at Kathrine, perhaps feeling her eyes on him, and then went back to his book. "T-. . . Thanks." Kathrine swallowed as she closed her eyes again and turned to the woman's ear. With a barely audible breath she forced herself to speak. "I'd really like some company."

The woman didn't hesitate, patting her back lightly. "Alright, sweety. . ."

/xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx\

Kathrine awoke with a throbbing ache in the back of her skull and the mixed scents of vanilla and sweat lingering on her skin. She was warm and comfortable and _safe_ here. Why did the world insist on dragging her back when she was in the embrace of such warmth?

She moved tentatively, only barely opening her bleary eyes to find the warmth she was wrapped around in her arms wasn't entirely human- coated in a thin bristle of tawny fur and leopard spots the woman looked more like the Tabaxi Kathrine had been reading about than the red haired curvy woman she'd met last night. Or was it this morning? She sighed, pressing her forehead to the back of the woman's coppery mane trying to will the world away for another few hours. If she was patient and good and if she _wished_ hard enough, it would and she'd be left to her silent piece of heaven for a little while longer.

The woman stirred a little forcing Kat to open her eyes, to reconsider the situation. She was a wizard, she'd been more than willing to indulge Kat's fantasies and yet she hadn't even so much as given her name. Nor had Kat, if she remembered correctly. They'd talked for hours and-

Hours?

_Oh dammit-_

Kat looked over her shoulder toward the dresser beside the bed. A golden sextant turned slowly on an intricate silver dias who's inlays had begun glowing a faint orange between last night and this morning. They were fading into a shade of soft red even as Kat drew in a breath and sighed it out. Just beyond the sextant, a small hourglass continued to empty the top half of its sand into the bottom. She was loosing time.

Slowly she disentangled herself from the polymorphed woman and pulled the covers back, sipping out into the cool 'morning' air. Though time didn't pass normally in the planar inn, Mitchifer kept a set of rooms for humans that mimicked the passage of normal time so people could keep their bearings early in the morning or late at night. Supposedly it made the transition back to the Prime Material just that much easier. Right now it just gave Kat goose bumps. She tucked the blankets around the woman's form and started towards her equipment, stopping when she saw her reflection in the mirror.

It was already shaping up to be an odd day.

Not that standing naked in front of a mirror in a bar sandwiched between multiple planes was somehow _normal_ to most people but it was made more odd by the trepidation that flowed through Kathrine's mind. She'd been planning the trip for weeks, making sure all the preparations for her were in place and double checking the planar coordinates to her destination; accounting for shifts in the multiverse and the alignment of her destination to the Prime, her window of opportunity was opening within the hour yet she still had doubts.

Finally getting up enough courage to actually _leave_ Arabel and Cormyr proper was something else, entirely. One could spend all eternity preparing for any possible outcome yet ninteen years of her life had weathered many storms and seen many beautiful sunrises but in the end it was the grey clouds hanging thick in the sky that refused to break which had finally chosen her path for her. In a world that refused to see Lathander's light break the sky, not because it was impossible but for the simple avarice that so many would be rulers shared and pressed upon their people.

And Jezebel. . .

She sighed softly bringing her slender arms over her breasts and closed her eyes imagining they were her hands. For all her faults, and there were many, none of them could've washed away the warmth Kathrine still felt for her. The had saved her soul from the pact in the end, it was something she could hold on to but if she imagined hard enough she could feel the woman's hands holding her close in the muted light, her sweet smelling hair brushing against her cheek and those soft words meant only for her. . .

But that was gone. Just like her parents. She couldn't pretend otherwise anymore.

"Mrrrrr. Good morning. . ." A sultry purr cooed in her right ear as powerful hands came around her stomach and a firm pressure of someone who's weight was easily several times Kathrine's own pressed against her back. Comforting and reassuring, the fine fuzz of the taller woman's body bristled against Kat's pale skin causing her to shiver involuntarily. A split second later a thick tail coiled around her thigh, pulling her closer still into the stronger woman's embrace while her tongue brushed Kat's earlobe from behind leading into a playful kiss planted on her ear.

Kathrine couldn't help but sink back against the woman, still afraid to open her eyes even though she _knew_ what she would see. What she wanted, though, was different. She wanted what she'd never have again. She wanted to see blonde hair, those pouted lips and brown eyes that held the commanding malevolent stare which put her in full control; full of strength and fire- Those same eyes that stared at her from atop the pyre as the flames rose. . .

Kat's eyes shot open to stop the memory from flooding back.

Grey eyes, her own, the first thing she saw; bright green slitted eyes next to her watched her, patient and curious. The woman holding her nuzzled against Kat's cheek with the faint bristling of ultra fine whiskers against her flesh, her feline features echoed in the strength of her grip as her hands came to hold Kat's hips from either side. The woman's bright red hair mingled in to Kat's platinum blonde creating a strawberry shortcake color that she really hadn't recognized before but somehow made her smile at the thought. The woman continued to purr lightly against Kathrine and inhaled deeply as though trying to memorize her scent. When she opened her mouth again, Kat turned her head upward to bear her throat to the woman submissively, without a moment's hesitation, the woman sunk her teeth into Kathrine's neck, her sharp canines pressing deep into her flesh threatening to break the skin. Kat's heart hammered against her chest at the sudden loss of control.

"Mmph." The woman pulled her close, leaning back to take some of Kathrine's weight, still holding her close to her fur covered body. With a soft sigh she pulled back releasing Kat's neck and kissing her ear before she pulled her into a hug, spinning her on her heels without giving her any choice in the matter. "I've been waiting to do that since last night. . . You're definitely a Chauntean. . . So very. . . giving."

Kat whimpered softly, pressing her temple to the taller woman's fuzzy chest. She bit into her lower lip, finally after several moments she brought her slender hand up around her shoulders in an awkward hug. She sighed into the woman's chest choking back a light sob. She couldn't bring it out, not to this woman. She didn't _need_ to know about. . . those things.

"What's wrong, sweety?" The throaty rumbling purr filled Kat's ear with sudden concern.

Kat swallowed and looked up to meet her eyes. The formerly slitted appearance of the woman's eyes had turned wide and round, completely human. Kat sighed again as she knew the polymorph spell was beginning to fade. "T-. . . Thanks?"

"Oh no, sweety. . . Thank_ you_." The woman pulled her tighter even as the fuzzy feeling began to fade into warm, soft flesh. Kat closed her eyes, resting her head on the woman's shoulder still a bit disconnected from what was going around her. The woman stroked her back gently. "I didn't hurt you, did I?"

_Farthest from it_. She was pretty sure she said it out loud.

They stood there in front of the mirror holding one another for a few minutes before the woman whispered. "Do you have my glasses?"

Without pulling back, Kat snapped her fingers producing the half moon spectacles between her delicate fingers in front of the redhead. She nuzzled into her hair with a long, sigh.

"I really wish I knew that spell. . ."

"It's not a spell." Kat whispered from some far away place in her mind. "My brother liked slight of hand."

The woman chuckled against her with a definite warmth. She could feel the stiffness in the woman's muscles, tension that somehow wasn't there before but it didn't seem to bother her, instead she brought her arm around Kat's back. "I probably don't want to know where you hid them, then, do I?"

Kat looked at her blankly and pulled back to kiss her tenderly. Her hands came down to the woman's hips and then up her back so she could hug her close. "I. . . s-. . . I need to get going soon."

"I know sweety."

"I. . . Don't want to."

"Yeah you do." The woman cupped her cheek gently, smiling a warm, motherly grin. "I can see it in your eyes. Well, no that's not right. I can barely _see_ your eyes right now. Would you mind?"

"Oh! Uh. . . oops. Sorry." Kathrine felt her cheeks warm as she opened the glasses and set them gently on the woman's nose. She knelt a little bit so she could look up at her though Kat was just slightly taller than the woman now in her normal form. Her playful green eyes watched Kat with a soft re assuredness of someone many times her age and though she was- Kat guessed- completely human, she still had that kind of ethereal grace given to those of elven descent. Kat was kind of envious of her beauty but at the same time, maybe some things were just better left unknown. "Um. . ." She licked her lips. "I. . . uh. . ."

"Tammia Goodmanner." The woman didn't seem the least bit phased by the awkwardness that bristled over Kat's nerves.

Kat swallowed and nodded. "K. . . Kathrine. Kathrine Stoneriver."

She chuckled and kissed her forehead. "Pleasure to meet you, sweety. But hey, you should probably get going. It's nearly daybreak on the Prime."

"Huh? Oh crud." Kat looked back over her shoulder toward the dresser beside the bed. A golden sextant turned slowly on an intricate silver dias who's inlays had begun glowing a faint orange between last night and this morning. They were fading into a shade of red even as Kat drew in a breath the red became stronger. Just beyond the sextant a small hourglass trickled the last of its sand into the bottom. "Aww _crap_. I'm so gonna be late!"

In a flurry, she bounced back from the woman- from Tammia- giving her an apologetic smile before she dived for her back pack which had somehow made its way behind the couch by the door. Next to that her velveteen pants and light cotton shirt lay crumpled atop her wool coat. Without even thinking she dived over the back of the couch and grabbed up her shirt, slipping it over her head. She'd need a bath but that was something she could get when she arrived in Chult. She had her hot weather clothes packed already and plenty of water. Reagents were in her coat and-

And what was she forgetting?

She laid there over the back of the couch for a moment before becoming keenly aware of the cool breeze against her naked bottom. It couldn't have been _that_ important, she decided and hauled her bag over the back. She turned around to see Tammia looking at her with a catty smile. Dressed in her red and black silk outfit that displayed her abundant cleavage behind a thin veil of lace with a matching tabard between her legs, she looked every part the bard Kat had thought her to be. "Huh?"

"Oh nothing, just admiring the view." She smiled.

Kat's cheeks warmed a bit more as she tugged her pants on in a hurry. "Um. . . I should be back a few weeks. . . W- Who knows, right?"

"If you say so, sweety." The woman went about primming her hair behind her ears with a faint sigh. "Have you got everything?"

"Yeah, I think so. . ." She stood up and grabbed her coat quickly pulling it over her self. As she did so the leather belt inside tightened over her hips and clipped together adding the reassuring weight of her brother's Tressym longsword to her left hip while she did a quick final pat down ensuring all the pockets inside her coat contained her reagents, just incase. "Yeah. That's everything." She turned to grab her pack and slipped it over her shoulder. "Um. . ."

"It's fine, Kathrine." The woman stepped up to her and hugged her unabashedly. "I had a really good time and I'm sure we'll do it again some day." She kissed her cheek and ruffled her hair.

Kat stood looking at the woman oddly, unsure how to respond. Finally she managed a lame half smile and kissed her deeply. Passion was never her strongest suit after Jezebel but she could still enjoy the sensation of being close. She _wouldn't_ loose that too, she had decided. When she broke the kiss she smiled a little. "It was really nice to meet you."

"Have a safe trip, beautiful Chauntean."

She giggled. "Yeah, thanks." Despite the finality of the words it still gnawed at her that there _should_ have been more attachment. She barely knew this woman and somehow in the span of a few hours she'd managed to make a friend and. . . a lover? Or was it really something so shallow that she couldn't even give it a name? They looked at one another, neither speaking. Deep in the woman's eyes a simple passivity watched Kathrine with a reassuring approval that said neither one of them was wrong and that in the end everything was okay. She sighed, not knowing what else to say. "I. . . should go."

Tammia leaned in and kissed her again, cupping her cheeks and holding her. Then just as abruptly she pulled back. "Yes you should before we repeat last night with _you_ on the bed this time." She laughed a melodic tone and shooed her towards the door. "Git!"

Kat tugged her pack straps tight, shying away from the woman's tone ever so slightly even though she could feel the joking nature of it, something in her obeyed without question and she slipped out into the hallway. She glanced back, memorizing the woman's soft features and the smile that graced her supple lips. _A beautiful sight to remember the evening._ Kat decided and gave a little wave.

The hallway emptied out into an expansive main meeting room filled with a multitude of creatures from every corner of the multi-verse. An angel and a sphinx played chess at one table while a beam of light and some kind of bear like creature traded stories over a glass of Purewater. Adding to the surreal nature of the place a talking rug on the floor listed the house menu to a weary human traveler who, Kat was sure, had wandered in by accident judging from the stupified look on his face. The air smelled of warm sulfur and brimstone but Kat was sure none of the more infernal patrons lingered while the angel was here. At least she hoped not anyway.

Not that violence was an issue, powerful wards woven into the fabric of the false wooden walls didn't allow for deliberate bloodshed but the debates, sometimes lasting for months on the Prime Material plane could be heated enough to clear the entire place which usually resulted in the proprietor kicking the offending parties out. Kathine waved to the sphinx and angel in passing, trying to discern who he served but giving up after a second when she saw he was too invested in their game to look at her.

The open nature of the main room was further reinforced by the high ceiling that held a second level ringing the main dining and reception area. Draped over the banisters were various shimmering sashes displaying dogma of one deity or another along with corresponding offerings of paper sheets with prayers, dried goods or blood and other substances. Further out of view Kat was sure she could hear people moving and talking amongst themselves, casing strange shadows over the cone shaped chandeliers above.

She stopped just long enough to deposit her last twenty five coins in the drop box by the front door, murmuring "Chultan coinage please." After a couple of seconds the bottom of the box opened up releasing a small burlap sack that felt slightly lighter but contained the appropriate coinage for the region. She started counting it on the way out the door into another hallway flanked on either side by a slew of doors. Forty six coins in all. If she was lucky it'd be enough to buy her a meal and a safe place to sleep once she got to Port Nyranzaru. Once there it was just a matter of getting maps or perhaps a guide and setting out.

Kathrine stopped at a particular black door to her right about half way down the hall. A plaque beside it read in a multitude of languages 'Outgoing'. She opened the door into an empty little room about ten paces on a side with a rather unimpressive glowing portal in its center. Ringing the portal were faded diagrams and ashen circles burned into the floor by the portal's activation magic. The concept was fairly straight forward, even to a mundane mindset; one wrote the coordinates in sand around the portal, spoke the activation words and by entering it they'd wind up at their destination. She licked her lips and steeled herself.

Reaching into her pocket she withdrew a hand full of sand and began drawing the circle from memory, closing her eyes so as not to be confused by the burned in images on the stone floor. The trickle of sand through her gloved hands tickled a little making her think of Tammia's beautiful fur pattern like some distant unexplored dune swollen to hold a beautiful desert flower meant only for her. It was the dream, in many ways, that'd caused her to pursue this route. The dream of the jaguar woman in the mushroom forest that had stopped her from going forward without paying her toll. It was since that waking dream after Jezebel's execution that she'd been unable to let go of that image, to find anything but restlessness and though she tried to get it out of her head, two years had done nothing to quell the curiosity; who was this creature that could live in her dreams and why was she _still_ there despite multiple attempts to work her out of her mind?

Was it a sign from Chauntea to spread Her teachings to the jungles of Chult? Kathrine could think of no other reason and though she was little more than a simple acolyte in the larger scale of things, she was still a wizard by training. Her logical mind had countless explanations but none of them came close to the gut feeling that told her she was being sent to bring this 'woman' under Chauntea's care and teaching.

_Tabaxi._ That was the name they used to describe themselves; the cat people of the jungle. The eerie obsession that burned at the back of Kat's mind since that dream. The one she couldn't let go of no matter how many times she tried. But that was soon at an end. Soon she'd understand what she was meant to do and soon. . . Perhaps soon, she'd find a poultice for Jezebel's loss.

Kathrine stood upright examining her circle carefully. Satisfied, she removed the gems she'd brought with her, fishing around in her palm for a honey colored one and holding it up to the light. She began murmuring the coordinates and at once the sand circle in front of her began glowing a soft straw color to match the gem. Planar coordinates were a tricky thing even if one knew where they were going it was easy to slip a movement of the tongue and wind up entire regions off direction or, if you were unlucky, in the entirely opposite plane you had intended. As she continued a faint nagging sensation tugged at her even while the honey'd glow of the gem faded into a soft pale blonde that nearly matched her hair. The circle at her feet began to glow brighter and soon the portal's own color began to change to match the luminance of the room. What _was_ she forgetting?

Before she could articulate the final syllables something hard knocked into her backpack sending her forward into the portal. At the same time she heard the door opening and Tammia's voice: "Hey, you forgot your sextant-" But it was too late, Kathrine was tumbling forward toward the portal. Pinwheeling her arms she tried to throw the gem aside hoping she'd be able to get rid of it and the portal wouldn't active. It stayed firm in her hand. She screamed involuntarily.

In the next beat she was tumbling into a void cursing Beshaba.


	2. Volume 2: Cold as Hell Chapter 1

The Missionary

Volume 2 - Cold as Hell

Chapter 1

_2/26/1381 (Relative)_

"_When I said I wanted to travel, I never quite meant it to be aimlessly wandering in hope of finding something. But I guess the only thing you really can do is hold tight to your faith and keep two simple things in mind. Those being the words of my father; 'Keep a level head, a sharp sword and don't expend energy panicking that you could use surviving.' And I. . . forgot the other thing."_

-Diary of Kathrine Stoneriver

She was falling fast. Forward at terminal velocity and though the entire experience was lasting only long enough for her mind to realize what was going on, Kathrine still pushed everything she could into her focus running through a multitude of scenarios in the flash of an instant. The first thing she needed was elemental protection and then a spell of iron lungs. She couldn't go back, it was too late for that, but she could at least prepare for what was to come.

Then there was the sextant.

_Oh __shit_.

Without it she'd be completely at the mercy of the portal systems and the fluctuation inherent in it. But that couldn't be helped. She didn't have _time_ to worry about that as she tumbled through relatively null space. Instead she closed her eyes and ran through the permutations for her normal protections; Greater Insulation to protect her from the elements, Deep Breath to keep her lungs full of air and-

Something struck the side of her head going at an amazing speed. A pristine oak box about the size her spell book. She spun around as her hands moved swiftly trying to make the motions of the Deep Breath spell. In her moment of realization relief washed over her. The sextant. Tammia must've thrown it in after her. So very close but she couldn't stop the casting now, though.

The sextant bounced off the side of her skull pushing her hair back and continued its path down and forward, zooming right by her. Kathrine pivoted her hips finishing the incantation. Air forced itself down her throat and into her lungs inflating them with the sharp breeze of life giving oxygen. She dived forward trying to reach the box but it was just too fast for her. With no sense of place and only the speed of thought to contain her, she tried to reach forward again but then she was suddenly falling faster ahead of the box. She passed at such speed she almost missed the sight of the golden latch closed, the little bead held it firm in its place.

_Thank the gods-_

An abrupt pull on her body told her she was coming to her destination, like a wind blowing against her she buffeted just before the veil of blackness opened to reveal an endless expanse of white not five feet in front of her. Snow. Her eyes widened as the portal spit her into the new place. She tumbled into the thick snow bank, rolling foot over head a couple times and landing face down in the fluffy power with her coat almost completely over her head. Her back was sore and her knees were wet from the snow but nothing burned or hurt. Either the protections were holding or it wasn't acidic in any way. She filed the knowledge away and raised her head to survey her surroundings.

Then the box struck her squarely in the back of the head.

She grunted as her face was buried back in the snow bank. "Owww~~"

Kathrine laid there for just a moment before she reached for the back of her head and rubbed the new sore spot. It was definitely going to leave a lump. "Ow ow ow." She pulled her hand away and planted her hands on either side of her body, forcing herself up.

Twin suns burned high in the crisp blue sky, one a faint blue color and the other yellow. All around her virgin snow had been laid across countless acres of territory with gentle furrows and mounds leading off out of sight. In front of her a steady mound was only a few hundred paces away and beyond it a mountain stood out against the sky as the single landscape feature in an otherwise barren winter scape. Kat shadowed her eyes with her hand, squinting to look into the distance only to be partly blinded by the brilliant reflected light from the twin suns.

_All in one piece? _She wiggled her hands, toes and then slowly forced herself up adjusting her full length coat before she patted the snow off of it. Mentally checking the half dozen wands on her belt she relaxed only when she was sure they were all in place.. She looked around again quickly and only when she was sure there was nothing else around she bent to retrieve her sextant. Carefully, she thumbed the latch open, holding her breath for just a moment even though she really didn't _need_ to. The spell saw to it her lungs were full no matter what. The little hinges creaked, opening to reveal the silver dias glowing blue and the golden sextant spinning lazily on its axis. Kathrine's breath formed a ghostly plume when she sighed out her relief.

And then all hell broke loose.

A semi-circle of snow six banks the size of a small carriage rose in front of her only a few paces away. A flash of light broke the sheen from the snow and suddenly six blurs were rushing forward. Teeth. Black bodies. White carapace on top. Somewhat serpentine with powerful legs. Insect?

Kat dropped the sextant by reflex and tumbled back at an awkward run. They had already halved the distance between them by the time she got her wits about her and quickly fumbled through her list of prepared spells, reaching for something useful to the situation. _Slow!_ She glanced down at the sextant and then the approaching beasts. They spread wide at first but now quickly closed in for the kill.

She was just a hair quicker, uttering the broken Draconic as the creatures closed in nearer. The crunch of snow under claw echoed thousands of times through her mind as she finally managed the final motion and selected the target of the area of effect. There was no dazzling display of magic fireworks usually associated with the release of high potency spells. Instead, the group of creatures progress halted to a brisk walking pace allowing Kat a better look at them.

They were definitely insectoid; thick powerful legs like a grass hopper, large teeth in a pointed skull with protruding antenae and no visible eyes. A thick chitinous shell protected the upper parts of their backs and gave them camouflage at a distance but sat high enough to allow them complete freedom of movement. She stood observing them for just a moment, taking a few steps back as the pack of them continued their slow advance towards her. She heard the crunch of wood and metal _just_ before the thought occurred to her that she'd left the sextant behind again.

That they were stalking her meant they were carnivores. Vermin? Perhaps but doubtful- over thinking it. She was overthinking it again. Kat ran through her spells quickly, holding her hands out and murmuring the incantation for lesser missile storm. The powerful evocation did exactly as one might think. A flash of bright blue light erupted from both her hands as she finished the required motions and seven bright pulses lashed out through the air like flying blue leaches, unerringly slamming into the insect creatures head on. Two of them dropped instantly, much to Kat's relief, leaving only burned husks as the magic cauterized their wounds instantly.

The other four began moving faster towards her as the slow spell began to wear off. She was quicker on the draw this time however and as the crunching of their feet came closer she unleashed another lesser missile storm. This time the results were universal and spectacular. The missiles punched into the carapaces leaving smoldering holes and black marks. One exploded in a shower of brown blood and the other two's bodies were burned through like a hot rod had been run through them. Kat approached the nearest of the creatures slowly and stopped just a foot away. "Psst. . . Hey."

It didn't move.

She relaxed a little, resting her hand atop her brother's sword as she stepped around the twitching corpses to find the box that held her sextant. Instead she found splinters and an amalgamation of bent gold and faintly glowing silver pressed into a three toed foot print buried partially by snow. _Oh man. That's not good. . ._

_Stupid._ _Stupid, stupid, stupid._ How could she have forgotten the only thing that'd have gotten her home? How would she get back now? What would she do? What-. . . No. She needed to relax. She looked at the remains of the box trying to survey the damage and make sense of what'd gone wrong. She hadn't finished the coordinates. No, she _had_ but she hand't finished the verbal component. Which meant only the third end of the coordinates were off. She looked around, shading her eyes. That, at least, narrowed the list of _possible_ bad situations she was facing. One or two degrees in multi-dimensional space left plenty of room for her getting back to the World Serpent but any more than that and she may as well have been throwing darts in the dark. She looked at the sextant with a frown. The golden A frame had been bent to an awkward angle making the sensitive device completely useless to her but the soft blue glow suggested she was at least somewhere near a portal anchor point. The stronger it got the closer she was and if she was really lucky, it wasn't the one she'd fallen out of.

Kathrine held the small dias in her hands turning left and right, taking a step forward, back, north and south. . . East and West. She was just about to turn back when the faint glow brightened just a little in a roughly westerly direction. Toward the mountain. She swallowed and looked up.

The mountain dominated the skyline as the solitary feature beyond the snow bank, snaking down from a point to a wide sprawling root around a snow capped plateau. She squinted trying to make out the details. The snow had an odd tint to it, almost green in the mixed light but something from the shadow caught just right and then she saw it for what it really was. It really _was_ green underneath the snow. The wind picked up and buffeted Kat's hair sending a lonesome sigh across her ears which echoed off into the distance. A flutter of movement atop the plateau a few seconds later exposed the green patch again. A bright vibrant patch of live plants that shone like a beacon in the desolate white. As she watched it, the realization struck her that she was probably watching something _move_ over it. Which could easily be many things but the hopeful part of her told her it was a thinking mind trying to hide its garden.

She glanced back down at the insects at her feet. If that was true, it would mean someone was either afraid or they were protecting themselves from something that was even more of a threat than the bugs. But she was over thinking again. . . She licked her dry lips and stuffed the remains of the sextant into her coat pocket before reaching under the collar of her coat, murmuring part of her command word to cause the fabric to mold into a cloak. It gave smoothly producing several feet of extra material that she could use as a hood which she draped down to cover her eyes for the most part, giving them welcome relief from the stinging reflected light.

Kat knelt down and brushed some snow aside, then began digging, trying to find some solid dirt. But there was none. No connection on this plane to Chauntea except for what lay ahead. She sighed. There'd be no comfort for a weary mind but she knew better than to give in to false doubts. As one of the greater deities of the realms, no matter where she went, Kathrine could always find some connection to the Earthmother and all Her bounties. It was just places like this that made that a little harder. She turned her gaze upward a little, smiling to the skies above as she whispered. "With each new path, a new growth, my Lady." She tugged her hood down to shade her eyes again and started forward towards the mountain.

The crisp powder crunched softly under her boots and though the thin leather pads that served as the soles threatened to soak through she trudged on keeping a weary eye on her surroundings for any more of the insect creatures. For miles around the only feature to kiss the land was the subtle waves of frozen snow that furrowed the pristine blanket of white but in that desolate stillness an unearthly beauty lay stretched out untouched by the hand of mankind. No bustling cities, no quaint villages. No thick dense forests teeming with animals. Just serene silence.

For a moment, Kat considered the possibility she'd somehow ended up on the Fugue plane but if what she'd read about it was true, she would be dead in some kind of city and not up to her knee in snow. Supposedly, however, the plane was void of any features and simply sat as an endless expanse of nothingness around some sort of central area where dead souls went to face their final judgment. The thought made her cringe, just once. But that wasn't right, was it? She couldn't be dead. . . Could she?

Her hood brushed against the lump on the back of her head sending a sharp jolt of pain through her head and she winced. For better or worse she was definitely alive.

Something tickled the back of her mind as she glanced around for the millionth time. The thought that she might have actually been on the Fugue plane, that she might have seen Jezebel. A sharp pang in her heart surged just for one fleeting moment; the thought that she'd catch a glimpse of the woman she'd fallen so deeply in love with, the one she'd made her wife. The one, despite all reasons _not_ to, she held to for comfort even on the loneliest of nights. She blinked and the feeling was gone. She truly was alone and no amount of wishing otherwise would change that.

She stopped half way between the dune and the mountain, looking around slowly for any other tell tale signs of the creatures. Her hair bristled a warning as her senses became increasingly more acute. The sent of the air, the sound of stillness. The increasing chill across her body; her elemental ward was beginning to thin which meant either time passed much faster here or the cold was eating through it. She swallowed, stole a glance toward the mountain and then around herself as her hand came to the hilt of her brother's sword. She was no soldier, she knew she'd never last in a fight without her magic but the reassuring chill of the ivory handle bolstered her confidence the slightest bit. The chill became downright cold the longer she stood there and soon she was shivering. Whether from her instincts or the continually failing elemental ward she couldn't tell but it was that instant she had to choose; the garden either represented a place where both fertile dirt and heat were at least somewhat abundant or there was some kind of thinking mind making it possible for plants of that type to grow. She could trust in their hospitality and hope for the best or she could stand there and freeze to death.

_Not much of a choice, is it. _She slowly turned back and began a steady jog toward the mountain, increasingly aware of the cold that threatened to freeze her solid. Despite her coat's very regal appearance, it was thin and only really could protect her from a light rain. _Yeah, let's get the one with the filigree._ She mused as she picked up a quicker pace. _Great__ idea._

She pumped her arms for extra speed as the ward continued to degrade and the first real blast of cold punched its way down her throat, filling her lungs with icy daggers of pain. She gasped in the breath of local air and coughed it out harshly; it ripped the moisture from her lungs and she nearly doubled over, dropping to a knee to keep from falling on the spot.

The simple act probably saved her life.

A lithe black body sailed over her head at a frightening pace and landed a few feet away, crunching down on two powerful padded feet easily the size of Kat's skull. The insect turned to her as she tried to force air in her lungs. She doubled back a little, coughing still but her mind was working a mile a minute; she was several hundred paces from the plateau still but she could probably get there in short order if she needed to. Years of running had kept her fit and light on her feet but she'd never outrun the creature, not even at her best pace. She coughed and hacked again.

The creature faced her full on and emitted a soft click, taking a single step forward. The snow crunched under foot and Kat backed up more. Her coat caught under her foot as she lowered her body in a defensive crouch just like her brother had tried to teach her. She grabbed the pommel of her blade and gave it a solid yank. Nothing happened. The blade remained firmly in its scabbard.

_Aww come on!_ She coughed again as the insect advanced on her. Though the stinging sensation in her throat was beginning to subside, she could barely breathe. Her face hurt from cold and coughing but still she tried to shout, motioning vaguely towards the insect trying to scare it away. She gave the blade another tug but it didn't budge. _Dammit!_

The insect lept at her and she dived to the left, bounced off of a rock or something with her shoulder and tumbled on to her feet. She looked back to see the insect land a couple of feet away from where she'd been. They were slow to adapt, this was good. As another coughing fit wracked her body, the rock she'd hit began to rise casting errant snow off its back. She herself got to her feet and started forward at a full run, pumping her arms faster while the insect creature drew itself up to its full height. The other one jumped at her and began a run of its own but Kat was just a split second too quick; she rolled to the side again and grabbed for her blade pulling with all her feeble strength but the steel remained firmly locked in the scabbard.

_Sometimes the cold makes the blade stick in the throat, that's why you want to keep it close to your body at all times. _At the furthest edges of her mind her father's words chided her while she tried to get her footing and change pitch, running the opposite direction. The two insects spread out wide to come at her from different angles. She wouldn't be able to repeat the move but she tried again anyway, zig-zagging erratically as she tried to force more air into her lungs. Her coughing hadn't subsided but every other part of her screaming of the danger she was in kept her moving. She tried hard to recall the verbal component of Deep Breath but for some reason couldn't quite remember what it was. It was _meant_ to be used when-. . . underwater. The only requirement was that she needed to be able to breathe the air, which she could.

She was overthinking again~

Quickly, Kat motioned with her hands to form the complex runes but she coughed and sputtered, loosing her concentration. She glanced back just in time to see one of the insects jump for her. She moved to duck, tripped over something hard buried under the snow and faceplanted right into a knee high snow bank. In her mind's eye she could see the creatures circling her even as the thing she'd tripped over began to rise up. She rolled over, confirming her suspicions. Three of the insects now formed a semi-circle around her.

She grabbed a familiar bone wand from her belt, turning it over in her hand and activating the magic contained in it by memory. A shimmering bubble instantly formed around her just as one of the creatures launched at her. It bounced back with a spectacular _crack_ of energy and recoiled. Instead of following suit in the attack, the other insects paced around to her back side and at once they both launched toward her flanks. _Crack crack_. The Shield held firm against them and Kathrine drew in a deep breath, quickly going through the motions for the Deep Breath spell she'd been trying to cast earlier. This time she was rewarded with a heavy inhalation of fresh oxygen. She couldn't help but sigh her relief. Was the air toxic? Maybe but doubtful. How much of it had she already swallowed, enough to kill her?

_Overthinking. Focus._ Kathrine quickly replaced her elemental ward with a less powerful one she usually reserved for daily use in uncomfortable climates. It wouldn't hold up for long if the biting chill had sapped her powerful one but it'd buy her a few precious minutes. If, however, time was moving faster, it'd buy her an hour at least. No matter why it was deteriorating, she needed to get to higher ground.

The insects made another circle, widening out as Kathrine tucked her wand into her belt. She pushed herself up just as one of the creatures made another lunge at her. It crashed into the shield with a loud _crack_ that echoed in the protective confines of the bubble, causing Kat's skin to bristle. No wonder she'd felt threatened, she was being stalked. She hadn't been paying attention and now she was paying for it. She sighed softly and stole a glance toward the mountain. Another second passed and two more insects rose from the snow in front of her joining the others in pacing around her.

She licked her lips. The shield would follow her wherever she went but how far she could get would depend entirely on how long it would actually _last_. Assuming her time theory held any kind of water, she wouldn't get far before it failed. _Crack_. Something crashed against the spell. She whipped her head back to find another half dozen insects closing in on her from behind. They had her surrounded.

Kat grabbed her wand and re triggered it before turning on her heel and starting toward the mountain at a dead run. As she slipped past two of the creatures tried to launch at her, smashing into the shield only to drop into a heap on either side of her. Her adrenaline surged and she forced herself to a full sprint such as she could with the snow up to her knees. She sloshed forward with the chittering creatures only a step behind. She plowed forward, re activating her wand every few dozen steps to keep it from failing and despite the warming that was telling her the wand was nearly out of charges she kept peeling them off like candy, anything to stay a few steps ahead of the insects which had somehow doubled in number in the space of a few hundred feet.

The snow tinned out the closer she got to the mountain and by the time she realized what she was looking at she was nearly _in_ the garden. The steady slope of the snow bank ringed the plateau like a hill reaching into the canopy of the garden. From her position mid way up the hill she could see a buffeting blanket of thick muslin reflecting a faint green color along with stone pillars which seemed to have had the canopy fixed to it in some way. Her heart surged with relief and fear. Someone was here, some _thinking_ creature had put this together and she was leading these things right to them.

Kat stole a glance back. Two dozen by quick count. Ten feet away. She cringed mentally. An image flashed through her mind's eye of the creatures descending on her when her shield eventually gave out and tearing her apart. Then whatever had set up the garden would be in danger and she'd be responsible and the crops would be totaled and- she slipped her foot back, took a deep breath and faced the mob of insects who were already closing the distance.

Her hands flexed an instant before she brought them up, forcing herself through the permutations for one of her more powerful evocations. Her mind formed the words quickly and her hands followed suit, disinterested in the world around herself she focused her control into a ball of energy that swirled around her arms to form in her hands, crackling loudly with an electric buzz. She stretched the radius out a bit as the final component came together, spilling from her lips in broken Draconic with the release of the pent up energy. The ball flew forward to a spot just behind the insects crackling loudly as it cut through the air.

The explosion was blinding. In an instant the electric ball expanded to its full size with a deafening _woosh_, sending electricity in every direction; insects were vaporized in an instant and a massive crater erupted from the point of impact splattering Kat with hot water vapor and bug parts. More than a dozen of the bugs disappeared in the initial blast and several more were dropped where they stood, some sheered in half at the edge of the circumference and some cooked by errant sparks of power that arced from the ten foot ball of compressed energy.

Kathrine stood just barely out of the radius of the explosion at the lip of the newly formed crater looking left and right for her next target. Her mind fell away to the protective instincts of the garden above and the people that it fed; whether human or not, it didn't matter to her. Of all the times in her life she'd been called upon to defend life and limb it had become an instinctive reaction. She'd lead the creatures here but she could stop them. Or she could damn well try.

One of the insects jumped at her from the right. Her shield spell cracked and she ducked away smoothly, turning to unleash a magic missile spell. In the space of a heart beat four missiles bored into the creature flinging it back with four black holes through its body to fall in a lump several feet away. She could hear clamoring from above but it was too late to look before three more of the creatures crawled at her right side. At once all four of them- herself included- ducked back away from one another. The insects chittered. Kat began working the somatic components for the lesser missile storm spell. She knew she didn't have enough reagents prepared for any more but at least she'd stop them all. Here and now.

The spell went off flawlessly blasting through the shield and sending crackling blue spears of light through the bugs. They dropped on the spot and Kat whirled to face the ones she thought she saw behind her. Already her hands were motioning for another magic missile spell.

She stopped the moment she saw a young human girl looking down at her from the top of the ridge. The dirty pale face was soon joined by others. Adults. They were all looking down at her like _she_ was one of the insects.

_Oh boy. . ._


	3. Volume 2: Cold as Hell Chapter 2

The Missionary

Volume 2 - Cold as Hell

Chapter 2

Kathrine stood at the base of the hill looking up at the accusing faces of the nine people whom she'd either saved or breached their defenses and now stood guilty of exposing them to danger. Around her, broken and battered bodies of the massive insect creatures littered the blasted snow, painting it with their thick brown ichor. Her regal coat too was stained with the mix of their blood and fragments of the carapaces that once protected the creatures. She licked her lips.

None of the people looked ready to speak so Kat waved a meek little gesture she hoped was non threatening. All of the adults backed away quickly but the dirty faced girl simply stared back at her with wide curious eyes. She smiled and waved back. Kat relaxed a little. "Hi there!"

The girl kept smiling and waving, seemingly uncomprehending of Kat's words.

"_Hello, there?_" She tried again in Elven. "_Hello, little one!_" In Chultan. When that didn't work, Kat pursed her lips and tried in Slyvan. "_Hello, young girl creature._" She frowned when the girl looked at her strangely. Though there was almost no reason for her to expect that the girl could speak the tongue of the fey, she had to at least try. After she expended her last attempt, she glanced back suddenly wishing she'd prepared a Tongues spell. She'd had no reason to being familiar with the Chultan tongue in preparation but she mentally kicked herself, looking back. Chult was a place of many tongues and dialects, counting on one to get here everywhere she wanted to go was silly. Down right dangerous, infact.

Kat took a tentative step up the hill. The girl stopped waving but her smile stayed in place, lighting up her grime coated features with the dalliance of youth not robbed of its innocence. A little needle pricked at the back of her mind as she watched the girl. She couldn't help but envy her. Another step up the mound and a man's head poked up over the edge. He grabbed the girl by surprise and hauled her out of view leaving Kathrine alone on the mound unsure of which way to go. She looked back to the expanse of emptiness and then up the hill. Would she be welcomed? Killed?

A soft chill whipped over her face buffeting the hood against the lump on the back of her head. She winced, tugged her hood down and started trudging up the mound. The soft snow gave easily under her boots forcing her to double over to keep her balance. She crunched up the hill as quickly as she could manage with her coat dragging the snow on either side of her. About three quarters of the way up a chill wind whipped over her in a howling sigh sending snow up either side of her face instead of being reflected by the shield spell, it struck her full on serving as a warning that her primary protection was now gone.

Nearly a foot from the lip of the top, Kathrine saw the 'blanket' of white struggling to remain connected to the stone pillars around the wide garden set back several paces on all sides from the ridge. Bright green plants standing easily as tall as her father would have lined neat rows with stone pathways between them. Each plant's wide leaf drooped down heavy with brilliant purple fruits ringing each of the blades that were striped down the center with thick yellow and orange coloring like an inverse skunk's tail. Beyond the plants a wide rough-hewn stone alcove had been carved out of the rock and primitive stone blocks arranged to protect either side from blowing wind. Within the deeper part of the alcove a small fire burned in a circular pit about waist high, lighting a strange array of runes along the inside of the stone and in a concave semi-circle into the gloom beyond.

Kat looked about carefully trying to ensure she didn't miss a step as she hauled herself up to stand on the ridge at the lip of the plateau. She kept her hands visible and outstretched trying to appear as non-threatening as possible as she approached the small garden, careful not to touch the plants out of both reverence and a lingering doubt as to their edibility to anyone but the inhabitants. "Um. . . Hello?"

Energy crackled to the right. Kat whirled into a combat crouch prepared to face the attack, turning her head just in time to see one of the insectoid creatures bouncing off an invisible shield. Tumbling off in mid air back down the cliff face, the faint chitter of the creature was quickly swallowed up by the sharp breeze. Kat looked down to the ground only just noticing the faintly etched plates that ringed the entire plateau with runes she could only barely make out as being Draconic in origin but of a dialect she'd never encountered before. Every third rune plate a protective ward provided the only form of consistency amongst the group of them. It was as though the entire plateau was warded against the creatures. Kat sighed in relief. She hadn't been killing someone's pets, she'd been protecting those who lived here. The relief was short lived as she looked around again. "Hello? Everyone okay?"

A cool wind whipped over the plateau riling the protective awning over the garden and sending plumes of errant snow off into the breeze where it fluttered off, carried on the wind to be lost in the open sky and with it, Kathrine's own voice as she called out one final time. "I'll help you if I can. . ." The light dusting of snow that swept through the sky grazed Kat's face with its chill kiss reminding her that even if she did find someone, this was no home. The monolithic mountain further beyond the garden stood tall as though to remind her of exactly that; she wasn't welcome here and this place would never be more welcoming than it was now.

She took a careful step towards the alcove keeping her hands open and away from her sword, though she was fairly certain it was those very same hands that would concern people far more than her blade, she followed her fathers words though, keeping herself as neutrally posed as she could manage. Somewhere in the back of her mind a red flag was waving reminding her that she wasn't in any shape to really defend herself if these people suddenly decided to attack her. Most of her prepared reagents had been burned up earlier and her less lethal spells would likely be more of a danger to herself at this range than enough to subdue any would be attackers. _Just take it easy, you've been in worse situations. . ._

"I'm not going to hurt anyone. It's okay, really." Keeping her hands out to the sides she carefully followed the stone path through the garden, narrowly avoiding brushing the plants flanking either side of the pavers. The faint touch of warmth that surrounded the garden fought the biting chill giving Kathrine a moment's pause to observe the plants both curious and reverent that such things could grow here. These people had access to magic or divine blessings of some sort, but from whom? _Bless the Earthmother for Her bounty_. She smiled to herself though still didn't dare touch the plants. Starting forward again she slipped through the garden toward the alcove.

"Hello?"

The fire pit crackled with life lighting the mouth of the cave and highlighting the now familiar rune plates around the inner walls. As she approached, Kat could feel the breeze shift over her face as though she was somehow silently being judged, yet when it came passing sentence it seemed no one was ready to condemn her to anything. Not yet at least.

The alcove twisted downward at a sharp angle plunging into darkness. "Hello?" Kat called out softly. A split second later a grimy little face poked out of the shadow nearly facing Kat's eye level perfectly. Startled, Kat recoiled a little, forcing an awkward smile. "Uh. . .Hi there."

The little girl smiled and motioned with her hand for Kat to follow her before she melted back into the veil of shadow leaving no trace she'd been there at all. There was a moment when Kathrine considered turning back but the nagging sensation eating at the back of her mind told her she'd have no place _to_ go nor any safe place to lay down if she needed to, to rest or study-

Knowing she had no choice, she sighed and took the first step forward. Almost without thinking she reached for the wall of the alcove but just before her hand touched the rune plates she stopped herself, only relaxing when her foot touched solid stone beyond the shadow. Another step forward and she slipped through the chilly darkness into a well lit, warm cave nearly fifty paces deep and twice that wide with high stone walls carved with deep recessions blocked off by primitive fur and cloth curtains. Bright fires burned in the center isle casting awkward shadows of tired looking adults milling about the central area, fire treating the wood of spear shafts or preparing small kettles of something that looked as though it could be soup.

It was at that moment that the mixed smells of sticky sweet grapes and the accumulated grime of months of body odor drilled through her nose causing her to gag involuntarily. The stench threatened to wrap around her, choking a cough out of her even though her full lungs were magically inflated she could still feel a kind of tug at her like something was trying to pull the air from them. She recovered quickly enough, covering her mouth politely before clearing her throat.

When she did the dozen or so people looked to her with a clear distrust that masked their dirty features in a kind of haunted stare she'd seen from old soldiers during the war. Refugees from their own innocence, some longing to return, some so hopelessly lost they knew they could never gaze upon it again, yet still others held to it like a long lost friend knowing they'd never be whole again but forever clinging to that grain of simple beauty as though the world would tear it away from them again. Kathrine knew that particular look, perhaps all too well.

"Um. . .H- Hi, everyone."

She could've heard a pin drop in the stillness.

"Um. . ." Kat licked her lips. "I um. . . I'm sorry if I upset anyone." Slowly she raised her hands careful not to make any sudden movements until her hands were about her chest level. "My name's Kathrine. Uh. . . Do you guys speak Common?"

A couple of the men looked at one another warily, then back to Kat. The little girl at her side jumped up and down excitedly before pointing to the men and making a circular motion with her hands like a waterwheel. She looked up at Kathrine and smiled, though it somehow seemed a little forced, twirling her hands a bit more with a questioning expression. Kat tilted her head, frowning slightly. "I'm sorry, I don't understand." To which the girl responded by throwing her hands up with an excited exhalation of breath that made a _woosh_ sound. "Oh, you mean. . . the spell? That's uh. . . That's called Scintillating Sphere. See, Chaunteans asuage fire-" Kat looked to the others, suddenly aware she probably couldn't be understood anyway.

"_Hmm._" Kathrine slowly reached into her coat pocket and wrapped her slender hand around a small wooden bowl she'd tucked deep in the folds of the fabric. She already knew what it contained but checked with her thumb just to make sure the flower was still held within, brushing the pedals as she drew it out of her pocket to hold it in her palm; the bowl she'd hand carved many years ago shortly after joining the Fangvale tribe in the woods near Arabel; it was a simple wooden husk decorated with intricate carvings of Tressyms and painted around the bottom with a wreath of simple gold colored vines that held a bright red rose on the northern side. Although she highly doubted anyone would recognize the significance of the bowl, she still held it out, lowering her head and cupping it gently to show her intent.

The supplication didn't stir anyone to move, instead they simply stared at her like she was some kind of alien life form- which is probably exactly what she was to them. She sighed softly and looked to the man nearest her and spoke in a very carefully neutral tone. "My name is Kathrine Stoneriver." She put a hand to her chest. "Priestess in service to the Earthmother, Chauntea. . . In the name of Meriadar, the hand of peace, I offer this bowl as a sign of friendship."

The man looked at her for a moment longer before placing a hand on his broad, fur covered chest. Though no words came forth, she could _sense_ something meaningful in his expression that she was somehow missing. It wasn't pitiable or a prefunctor mimic of her action, the motion _meant_ something but she couldn't figure out what. Kat somehow managed to choke back a weary laugh of uncertainty as she stepped forward still cupping the bowl before her. The man didn't step back, simply looking at her as though she were perhaps a bit slow of mind.

Maybe she was.

Kat stalled, looking at him thoughtfully. His jaw was set back, brow ridge high with a very slightly egg shaped cant to the back of his skull that made his dirty brown hair seem to flow from the back of his head like a tepid waterfall resting across a powerfully built frame and completely devoid of decoration outside of those necessary for warmth. This man was no more a primitive tribal than she was. But that begged the question. What _was_ he? She licked her lips trying to place the features to any regional blood she was familiar with or had read about. Most of the others had gone back to their activities though a few gave her more than a passing glance perhaps as curious about her as she was about them and while most of them had many of the same features as the man before her, none of them jogged her memory in any kind of meaningful fashion.

Some of the men continued fire hardening spear shafts and a few of the women gathered around the soup kettles while others disappeared into their alcoves seemingly disinterested in her once more. Kat stood there mentally reaching for anything she could say or do to bridge the communication gap between them, yet when taken as a whole, she couldn't fabricate words that they could use to communicate any more than they could read her mind. The moment of silence between them lingered until the girl patted her upper thigh drawing both Kat's attention and the man's. She smiled brightly holding up her hands like Kathrine did to hold the bowl. Kat had to smile at that, turning and kneeling down in front of her, offering the bowl in the same careful manner she'd offered it to the man. "Maybe you, then." She whispered. "What's your name, huh?"

Instead of replying the girl took the bowl and dashed off to one of the soup kettles so fast that Kat barely had time to register the movement. In the blink of an eye she was looking at the girl standing in front of her again with the bowl now full of thick yellow soup with the orchid floating in the middle of it as though it'd been preserved in amber. Despite herself she blinked a few more times looking over the girl more studiously before she looked up to the man and then the bowl with what she hoped translated as a questioning expression, asking permission to eat from their bounty. He continued the stare giving Kat no clear indication what was expected of her. She looked to the bowl and breathed in a whiff of its sent.

A flood of memories washed over her senses with the pungent sweet smell of the unknown fruit broth. First and foremost the thought of mead; missus Coppersmith's apple orchard just behind their house and all the times she'd helped harvest only to secretly make off with more than just the customary bottle. Then trying to explain to her mentor, and then her father, why she had a headache or trying to help them look for where those extra five bottles had disappeared to when no one was looking. Kat closed her eyes and sighed. "Thank you." She opened her eyes to see the little girl looking at her with a mix of doubt and confusion. "It's good! Um. . . Memories." She tapped her temple. "You know, mind pictures? Ah. . . like. . . home. It reminds me of home. Thank you."

Abruptly the girl looked up at the man with a sudden wide eye'd surprise of someone being chided by a parental figure. Kat followed her gaze to see the man looking at the child though his expression remained completely impassive, she could somehow _feel_ the anger in his silence. Had she done something to offend him or was he protecting the girl? Kat turned to face him as she stood holding her hand aside with the bowl cupped close to her body, offering a small bow. "If I've done something to offend, I'm sorry-"

The man held his hand up and gave her a dismissive wave.

He _could_ understand her.

Kat's eyes widened. "You can understand me?"

The distant firelight flared casting a bright reflection over his weathered face casting a wizened shadow over his features that somehow made Kat think of her father. He tapped his temple and held the pad of his finger there staring straight at her.

_Oh._

He nodded slowly.

_You. . . can read minds, is that it?_

The man looked at her blankly for a moment even as Kat tried to form a mental picture of the meaning in her words. The idea of a book brought forth memories of reading and the knowledge gained within them, of memories relating to the months she'd spent under her tutor's guidance. She had to be _very_ careful with her formulating of the mental image as her mind tried to wander off into _other_ things she'd been taught by the elven wizard.

He looked at her for another second before nodding, letting his hand drop to his side once more. Kathrine's voice came out in a strangled gasp. "You _can_ read minds, wow." Her mind worked quickly at closing all the little doors she knew must've been opened by the memories threatening to break the surface with the thought of her mentor. Mundane or magical, she could feel the man's gaze take on a new kind of curiosity about her and though she was sure she was causing some kind of offense, the thought of her entire life laid bare before an absolute stranger scared her.

Perhaps not for what _he_ would think of her, but what she might learn about herself in his reflection.

The man sighed softly and cast a glance back to the women around the kettle. At once two of them broke off and approached, one with a small garland made from rolled up plants similar to those in the garden and bound in sinew, the other carrying a small bowl of brown paste with her finger tips already dipping into the balm. They didn't so much as break stride as they passed the man and came up to Kathrine not even giving her a moment to comprehend what was going on before the woman with the brown paint began drawing a series of small symbols on her white coat. Though the magic that should've kept dirt from sticking to it didn't kept trying to activate and wash the paint away, the woman didn't seem phased in the least as she painted even ignoring the silent objections poking at the back of Kat's mind telling her something bad was going to happen. But it was the woman with the garland that really set her internal alarms going; she gently slipped it over Kat's hood placing it down around her neck with a small forlorn smile Kat'd seen plenty of times during the war.

It was the smile that someone gave to another to both comfort them and ward off the impending specter of fear when facing certain death.


	4. Volume 2: Cold as Hell Chapter 3

The Missionary

Volume 2 - Cold as Hell

Chapter 3

As the sweet smelling garland slipped over her hood, Kat could feel the man's eyes searching her. A deep curiosity burned in those skeptical eyes along with an uneasiness that set Kat's own hair bristling; part of her wanted to think it was the uneasiness older people felt for sending the younger off into harms way. She'd seen it in her father's eyes when the war came to Eveningstar, that night Connor had come to the dinner table with two men she'd never seen before. At the time, she didn't understand why the men kept referring to him as 'Blade'Stoneriver instead of Connor but her father's expression. . . _That_ she could understand better than any title.

Maybe it wasn't that, though. Maybe it was the weariness of a stranger being dropped on their doorstep neither invited nor welcomed. Kathrine took a deep breath, only vaguely aware that her Deep Breath spell was beginning to fade as she lowered her head in respect to the man and the two women before her. The woman who'd been painting her coat with the brown markings finally seemed to realize that nothing she did would make the paint stick to the wool so instead she stabbed two fingers of the paint on to Kat's cheek, drawing down to form what she could only assume was some kind of protective sigil. The cool paint continued to dribble down her neck as the woman pushed under her jaw forcing Kat to tilt her head so she could mark her throat. She stopped for a second at a particularly sore spot that Kathrine had somehow forgotten until she felt the fingers pressed to it, Kat gave a sheepish smile to the woman. "It's. . . okay. Uh. . . Nothing to worry about." The woman simply looked at her for a second and continued down to the collar of Kat's shirt before taking an abrupt turn to the right, painting the front of her throat and then upward to her left cheek where she pressed a bit harder.

"Um. . ." Kat swallowed, looking to the man as she tried to formulate some kind of mental image to give her curiosity a voice. "What's this all about?" He stared at her blankly and she bit her lip. After a couple of seconds she managed to pull together the thought of her mentor's first lesson when she'd laid several dozen small knotted chains at her feet and told her to pick just one. Of course, more than anything else she wanted to know what'd happen if she chosen one of the others. Building on this thought Kat turned the image of the chains into the garland around her neck and the paint across her face. She motioned around the expansive cave trying not to seem like she was picking any one thing out yet still trying to convey the curiosity she felt about the entire situation.

The man's reply was instantaneous; he stepped forward and grabbed her shoulders firmly. Kat winced away instinctively as the women on either side of her stepped away to give them room. The man turned her on her heel and shoved her forward harshly toward the mouth of the cave, shoving her without a word into the the thin veil of darkness that hid the cave from the rest of the world. A sharp chill shot up Kat's spine the moment she touched it with his hands upon her but it was gone with the next breath as the frigid air of the outdoors ripped her breath from her lungs and suddenly she was surrounded by the endless expanse of virgin snow around the plateau with the garden somehow sitting to their left instead of infront of them. It was at that moment Kat noticed the plateau itself was actually to their left and they were standing on an outcropping of rock carved into the mountain itself. She choked and coughed, trying to get her body to breathe in the chilled air. _Can't. . . _

"_Don't panic._" A woman's voice tickled the fringes of her mind like a warm breath across her skin. Kathrine turned to the sensation still trying to catch her breath as the man pushed her forward almost to the very edge of the outcropping. She pushed back trying to brace her foot but the man's strength was too much, he was too strong. "_Don't panic._" The woman's voice whispered again just as the young girl stepped up beside her and took her hand. Kat pushed back again, digging her heel into a rock, trying to get purchase. She shoved back but the man was immutable.

"No!"

"_Don't panic._" The woman's voice repeated as the girl's hand wrapped around Kathrine's.

The man's pressure on Kat's shoulders relaxed slightly. She didn't. Still pushing back against him, she thrashed out trying to get free of his grip only precious inches from the edge of rock face. Sharp jagged rocks lined the mountain all the way down,topped with a light dusting of errant snow that fluttered in a soft breeze. Suddenly aware of just how far up they were, Kat shoved back. She didn't _want_ to die, not like this. She _wasn't_ going to.

"_Don't panic._"

"Nngggh!" Kat pitched to the side, the man's grip loosened and she took advantage of the moment, throwing her weight against the girl trying to keep both of them from falling over the edge. The man was quick, quicker than even Kathrine could have anticipated. He had her by the collar of her coat, hefting her up to her feet faster than she could even register the sensation that he'd had her at all. She flailed and tried to slip out of her coat but the girl stopped her, placing both hands on her shoulders and looking her in the eyes with a reassuring smile and an ethereally beautiful smile that reached to the very core of something Kat hadn't felt in a long time. It was the purely innocent smile of someone who would do no harm.

Slowly, almost painfully, Kathrine brought her feet under her and started to stand.

"_Don't panic._"

_Don't panic._ Why did that sound so familiar? _Don't. . . panic. . ._

A sudden flash of memory wiped over her mind; she was thirteen, her bedroom. Her mentor was there. Her lips pressed to Kathrine's own. A knock at the door. "_Don't panic. A wizard never panics._" She had winked, hiding just one of those shimmering sapphires Kathrine had lost herself in so many times. Just that one split second. _Don't panic._

She looked at the girl with a new fear. There _were_ no secrets she could keep from these people. What else had she seen that Kathrine hadn't been able to hide? What _had_ this little girl seen of her life that she shouldn't have _ever_ seen? Kathrine licked her lips trying to find the words to form an apology- but why? Why should _she_ apologize for someone else entering her mind without her permission? But this wasn't a normal girl. Nothing about this place was normal.

A sharp wind buffeted the rock face sending shards of chilling snow across Kathrine's face to settle just under her eyes as a damp mist. The man had let go of her and now the three of them stood silent and solemn on the small out cropping hundreds of feet in the air with only the fluttering of snowy mist between them. The girl took her hand again after a long moment and smiled up at her before she motioned to the solid rock behind her, giving her hand a very gentle tug as though to say 'it'll be okay, come on.'

Kathrine looked at the solid rock dubiously, trying to gather her wits as her heart punched against her ribcage. The dull grey rock gave no indication to anything special but the girl's insistence was a physical thing so devout in her belief that something would happen, Kathrine had a hard time not finding herself questioning exactly what she was seeing. The girl took a step forward leading into a trot heading straight for the slab of rock in front of them and pulling Kat right along with her until they ran out of space. A couple of paces away from the rock face Kat was sure she'd stop but when she didn't a flash of panic cracked across her mind; what was she doing?

It was only when the girl passed right through the rock as though it were a lace curtain that Kat put one and one together. A second later she was following right through a shimmering chill that swept through her entire body before a solid warmth prickled over her exposed face. Fire light crackled just off to the right highlighting high arched ceilings with intricate hanging vines dotted by bright blue glowing plants which cast a gentle, if cool, luminance over a smooth stone hallway running directly out infront of them. Pillars of semi-circular stone had been cut out of the rock face every ten paces or so and between them squared off etchings depicted humanoid forms, mostly men with spears, fighting and killing the hard shelled insect creatures. Kathrine pulled slightly to one of them to study it. "What's this. . .?" She squinted in the muted light to make out one of the designs.

A man held a spear aloft in front of a garden while at his feet lay several dead insectoid creatures who's shells had been pierced with the spears. Beside him a man lay crumpled in a fetal position around the man's leg while just behind them people were running towards them. Around the man's neck a thin rope of bundled plants similar to the one she was wearing carried a pouch down between his overly developed pectorals. Kathrine pursed her lips glancing to the girl. "Is this man dead?"

She stared at her blankly.

"Oh, right. . .Um. . ." Kathrine swallowed, drawing up a memory of mister Coppersmith from so many years ago, even down to when she had watched them burry him. The girl looked at her in thoughtful consideration and smiled, shaking her head before she pointed at the man in the fetal position, tapping his etching a couple of times.

"Oh, _he_ died?" She conjured up the image again to which the girl nodded a response.

Her lips felt dry and her knees a little weak as she looked around again. In all the pictures men and women were defending the garden and while they all had different means of doing so, they seemed to be defending it consistently against the insectoid creatures that Kathrine had encountered. She looked to the girl with a sudden weariness. Had she broken some kind of cultural taboo inadvertently or was she being held in some kind of regard for what she'd done? Slowly she knelt down beside the girl and reached into her backpack for a familiar solid lump wrapped in burlap only relaxing slightly as she pulled it from her bag to hold between them, barely able to force her hand to do so, she pulled the wrappings off to reveal her beaten and battered spellbook.

The once fine grain leather had become worn naked in spots, particularly on the spine where only thin bands poking through the glued binding continued to hold it together while the back of the book had been worn smooth in many spots from where it used to rub against her thigh. Contrary to the worn appearance, the thick grommet near the bottom that normally held the chain she used to affix it to her belt was still shining a bright gold and most prominently displayed on a raised impression burned into the leather was a brilliant explosion of grain behind a large rose who's paint wasn't beginning to show any signs of age even after nearly a decade. Kat turned the book over in her hands, licking her lips as she traced her finger along the symbol of her goddess. "Do you know what this is?"

Without even batting an eye the girl threw her hands up making a soft _woosh_ sound with an exhalation of her breath. The surprise Kat felt must've shown on her face because in the next moment the girl grabbed her hands with a gentle smile of someone much older than her apparent age before she let go, she patted the book gently and then pointed to the etching with the man and the spear.

"No, no. It's. . . Not a weapon." Kathrine closed her eyes imagining a time that felt somehow alien to her now; she was standing in the field just outside her father's farm with a bag of seeds, the sun kissed her skin as she was doubled over pressing the pebble sized items into the soft dirt with her dirty fingers. The memory brought with it the prayers she used to murmur when she was sure no one could hear, along with the responses her mind formulated she'd receive. Prayers for her brother's safe return to work the fields in Her name once more would of course bear the fruit they all wished so much. She whispered the name aloud even as it came to her mind's eye. "_Chauntea._"

"_Woosh?_"

Kat licked her lips. "I was. . . going to be a soldier, like my father." She pointed to the man with the spear and then tapped her book, nodding even as she brought forth the memories of her application to join the War Wizards of Cormyr. Family tradition and the swell of pride were soon overwhelmed by the chaos that'd overtaken her village when the fighting became close, when her parents were murdered and-

She drew in a shuddering breath, holding her hand up. She couldn't look at the girl.

With a long sigh Kathrine forced herself to wrap the book up again. It was the only thing she had of her father's many gifts to her that she could still hold and _feel_ but it may as well have been a chain around her throat, a reminder of how she'd failed to protect him, how she'd _let_ him die.

"_Don't panic_." A woman's voice brushed her consciousness.

"C- Chauntea. . ." She pointed to the garden in the etching with her trembling finger and then motioned vaguely skyward within the relief. "Likes gardens." Subconsciously she brought the book to her chest protective of the abused leather, she hugged it close to accent her point. "Chauntea protects gardens that feed men. . . And we honor Her by growing them. Do you see? It's all part of a cycle. . ."

The girl's head tilted up to look at the etching thoughtfully and then to Kathrine's face with a lingering expression of both youthful curiosity and a wisdom that Kat couldn't quite place. She smiled softly, pointing to the garden before she made a motion towards her face opening and closing her mouth as though she was eating something. Kat smiled a little warily as the girl continued, placing a hand on her own chest, patting it twice and then pointing back at the garden.

"You. . . protect the garden?"

Her ruddy fingers intertwined with Kathrine's coat tail while she watched her thoughtfully until finally she broke off and held her hands up and out as though trying to hold a piece of ground with nothing but her bare hands. A sharp crackle of electric energy sent Kat's senses on high as the girl's fingertips sparked with blue energy only to die off mere inches from her finger tips. She then pointed at Kathrine, still smiling wide. "_Woosh._"

"Y-. . . I. . . see." A sudden flare of jealousy roilled over Kat's mind but she quickly suppressed it, for all she knew inate magic talent came at a high price here, who was she to be jealous- even if she did have to spend more than a decade studying to wrap her mind around the formulae of even basic spells. She didn't have any reason to be upset. Not at all. "So you can do that too, huh?"

They looked at one another for a moment, the girl smiling bright and Kat with the faintest of frowns. Neither moved except for their breathing but Kathrine could feel the kind of jovial amusement of someone who'd discovered something hidden and now held the key to sharing it at their discretion. Maybe she'd ripped it from Kat's mind when she wasn't looking or perhaps she just naturally held that kind of power, whatever it was, she wasn't ashamed of it and for some strange reason it bothered Kat. She needed to be focusing on getting home, not measuring herself against everyone else. That was the priority. That was the goal. She was loosing focus.

Kathrine packed her spellbook away before looking up at the etchings again trying to discern what the meaning might be amongst them aside from the common thread of the figures in each of them having been trying to defend the garden, or perhaps defend the cave the community lived in. She looked to the girl who simply watched her with a kind smile. "What is this place? Like a temple?"

She nodded emphatically and pointed to the opposite end of the hall where the cool blue light was the dimmest. Kat squinted at the gloom trying to discern any shapes amidst the flickering firelight that was beginning to dim along with the natural light from overhead. It didn't dim quick enough to hide the battered skeleton tucked into a tiny crevice between the main chamber and a smaller doorway leading to some place beyond.

The girl threw her hands up again. "_Woosh!_"


	5. Volume 2: Cold as Hell Chapter 4

The Missionary

Volume 2 - Cold as Hell

Chapter 4

Subconsciously Kathrine was fully aware of her surroundings; of the high vaulted ceilings and the glow that was cast off by the natural roots that accented the squared off etchings on either side of the long hallway, though perhaps most of all she was aware of the sudden chill that prickled up and down her spine in the growing dimness. Just next to her, the dirty child brushed her leg with her ruddy hand before she pointed to the skeletal remains that sat a silent vigil in a niche at the far end of the hall, staring at the wall opposite it with an eternal grin. The girl made no sound though at some level Kathrine could _sense_ she was being told something though the language she used to communicate was something she could only guess at. Perhaps it was the language of thought or literal memory, perhaps it was something else entirely.

"I can't understand you." Kat whispered as she took a tentative step forward, stopped when the girl grabbed her hand. She looked at the child and found herself lost for just a split second in her eyes, radiant pools of brown that absorbed her wholly just long enough to ensure she had Kathrine's undivided attention. In the next moment she flashed a smile showing off a row of purplish stained teeth. She pointed to an etching just ahead of them to the left rather excitedly.

The etching depicted a slender man with a spear dodging between a couple of large bug creatures with the butt of his spear slamming into a man of slightly larger build, bowling him over. But something wasn't right about the larger man in the etching, his angle was slightly awkward and even though he was falling backwards something about the way his foot was set- That's when she saw it. His ankle was stripped of its flesh from the top of his foot to a few inches upwards. Kathrine looked over the art much more closely after this, finding a small mark in the man's exposed ribcage where his body had been punctured with what looked to be a claw marking. She pointed at it looking at the girl and drawing the mental image of the funeral she'd used to express death.

The girl smiled that same odd smile and nodded before she pointed at the larger man and placed both hands over her own heart and acted as though she was falling to the ground. She stopped a little bit before she'd have hit the stone and rose up, walking with a very stiff gait towards Kathrine. Only when she was within arms reach did she try to grab Kat's coat but she stopped and pointed at the etching again insistently.

Kathrine swallowed around the lump in her throat. _Undead_.

They didn't just _happen_, though. Unless the insectoid creatures had some kind of link to the negative energy plane or naturally occurring disease that would create undead. Or perhaps there was something more sinister at work. The possibilities may well have been endless but she couldn't draw any definite conclusion, even glancing at the skeleton at the end of the hall. A calm swept over her as she eyed the body of the man who'd been all but abandoned and forgotten if not for the etching in front of her; since the man- the skeleton- wasn't patrolling anything or performing some task it was probably safe to assume he'd died a relatively peaceful death. She looked back up to the etching, studying his features. "Who drew all these?"

The girl was strangely somber when Kat looked to her, casting her eyes downward to the ground between them. Kathrine furrowed her brow as she tried to puzzle out the reaction. She took another quick glance about the other squares on the walls noting how similar the style was between them all though with subtle variations that showed only slight improvement in skill from one etching to the next suggesting they'd probably all be done in a short time span. She moved to head back towards one of the etchings near where they'd come in and the girl's small hand shot out, slapping the front of her thigh and stopping Kat in mid step. Kat looked at her but the girl still refused to meet her eyes. "I just want to check something."

She tried to take another step and the girl moved in a blur of impossible speed. Suddenly she was standing directly in front of Kathrine pushing against both her legs trying to shove her towards the end of the hallway. Kat braced her feet behind her, leaning forward but the girl was too strong for her, somehow she managed to shove Kathrine nearly two feet before Kat finally relented and took a step back, holding her hands up. "Okay, I get it! Cripes, I can walk. . ."

It was a lie, of course, she didn't get anything that was going on.

Kathrine turned away from the girl, licking her lips as she swept her gaze over either size of the hall trying to make sense of the etchings that lined either wall. The closer she got to the skeleton the more the etchings took on less heroic qualities and more mundane ones. Instead of men fighting insectoids with spears, the figures depicted were men setting up wards or, in one case, actually running away from the garden down the side of the plateau. She was only a few feet away from the skeleton when she noticed that a square plaque to the left, the only one remaining, hadn't had anything carved into it. She looked back to the girl who simply looked up at her with a sad little smile.

She swallowed. "I. . . guess that's for me, huh?"

The girl surprised her by nodding.

_Right_. It stung at some level that she hadn't even had time to get to know these people before they decided she'd be put into further danger or perhaps even simply killed outright but the other parts of her that knew better told her how little attachment she felt for them even despite their obviously human influenced appearance. These people were too alien for her to understand and she'd be unlikely to ever _truly_ get comfortable with them much less be able to fit in to their community. It was a stupid, nieve little thing even in the face of much more serious issues but it still nagged at her that she was somehow failing her duties as a priest and that she was being forced into something against her will. But then, maybe that was just her lot in life.

_Overthinking._ Kat licked her lips taking another step forward toward the end of the hall. The massive pathway was easily three times her size, carved directly into the stone were etchings of blustery wind gusts in a tribal style that blew oddly shaped snowflakes around the rounded face of the stone through the open maw of the hall and into the gloom beyond. From what she could see, the wind etchings continued on well into the darkness where even the soft glow of the overhead roots refused to shine. Kathrine turned and knelt down to the skeletal remains tucked into the right side of the hall, being careful not to touch them as she ran her hand over the stone around his form.

There was no telltale feelings of spent magic, none of the light static charge that often set the hair on her neck on end, no magic burns or even the appearance of physical violence except for a mended rib on his right side. She furrowed her brow as she shifted her weight to get a better view of the back of his very slightly pointed skull only to find no obvious signs of trauma. His mouth hung open but it wasn't a screaming expression so much as a post mortem effect of his muscles rotting away- at least she hoped so. Had he starved to death?

Kathrine sighed softly, touching her hand to the skeleton's forehead as she whispered. "May Kelevor's judgment be merciful." It was the most she could do for him and though it felt hollow, some part of her felt comforted by the familiar even if no one else truly understood it, she still _felt_ the presence of those deities that had influenced so much of her life up to this point and that, above anything else, was something she'd never want to loose. Kat looked back to the girl with an uneasy smile as the notion settled with her. "Would you join me?"

The girl looked at her for a long moment, dusting her little hands against her fur covered chest. She walked towards Kathrine with only the faint sound of her lined moccasins to announce her presence. Sliding right up next to Kat she laid her hand on top of the skeleton's skull, silently mimicking the words. Kat slid her hand over the girls with a soft murmur that she hoped was reassuring. "We commit this soul back to the natural cycle of life to feed and ask that he be taken into the embrace of an eternal reward he's earned by his actions in life." Kathrine glanced up to see the girl looking at her curiously. She smiled a little and went through her memories, mentally showing the girl everything she'd learned of the way the gods worked with a very slight bent towards her patron's example. That nothing was ever truly lost and in the end beauty was born through the recommitting of life to the soil to feed it as it would feed future generations. It was a simple truth but in the end sometimes the most complex formulae came to the simplest of realizations.

"Do you understand?" Kathrine smiled gently.

The girl's brown eyes remained focused on her, searching, exposing every secret Kat could have even thought of hiding, she imagined, but Kat didn't blink or shy away. She would show this girl the truth of it and in so doing, she'd be doing her duty. She tried another smile, speaking slowly. "If we commit this man." She nodded to the corpse. "To the soil in Her name, She will help you grow stronger. Would you like that?"

A subtle quiver in the girl's hand gave rise to a quick burst of cold air that gushed from the deeper darkness of the hallway. The burst flushed through Kat's hood to wrap around her face like a physical blanket of ice that threatened to steal all feeling from her cheeks and stuff her lungs full of frigid air. She didn't let go of the girl's hand even as it began to shake more. Despite her attempt to pull away, Kathrine held firm and forced a smile. "It's within Her power, do you understand?"

At that moment, she could feel the tension in the girl's hand as the child tried to recover it, to try and pull away. Maybe even to run. She held a little longer, watching the child while the building wind became a physical force that began pushing down against her chest, running its icy fingers through her hair and sliding the hood back further exposing her to the air. The girl yanked away with such incredible speed Kat couldn't keep track of her movements much less control her own. It was an act of fear, Kat knew it but she didn't have time to register the implication before the skeletal remains animated.

_Click click click._ The skeleton lunged forward grabbing for Kat's hair. She pitched back quickly but it was faster- impossibly fast-. It was on her and she tumbled on to her back smacking her skull on the cold stone. A low _hiss_ of icy air swept over her face as the skeleton's mouth opened and closed in a voiceless whisper that sent Kat's hair on end. She reached up grabbing for its ribcage but the skeleton was too quick, too strong. It braced its knees on either side of her upper torso as she struggled against the heavy pressure shoving her own chest down. She called out absently, trying to force herself up but it was too heavy. What'd happened? They were _supposed_ to be the weakest kind of undead imaginable but something was terribly wrong.

"_Woosh!_" The girl whispered a split second before she took off past Kathrine to retreat to some deeper part of the hallway. Kat tried to call out for her not to go. She couldn't let the girl get into danger, she _wouldn't_ let that happen even though it was entirely possible she was in the situation because of her.

_Overthinking!_

Kat threw her chest forward trying to tip the balance but the skeleton grabbed her shoulders and slammed her back to the ground with a dull, heavy thump. Her breath exploded from her lips. Her vision went blurry and her mind went fuzzy for a moment. Panic shot up her spine, clawing through her mind in the flash of an instant she tried to call out. A bony hand struck her square in the mouth. And again. And again. She yanked her head to the side with the rusty tang of blood leaking over her tongue, howling an indistinct cry of pain as she once again flailed against the weight. She knew better than to cry out. Some part of her shouted to get _away_. She had to _leave._

_Get away! Now!_

The skeleton reared back for another strike and Kat juked her head to the side drawing her knee up and slamming it as hard as she could into its lower back. It pitched forward a little bit but still managed to follow through, delivering a heavy hammer blow to Kat's right eye socket. She screamed out and kneed it again, grabbing for its arm with her left hand. The skeleton easily broke her grip and grabbed for her face with its other hand. The dirty bone brushed her eyeball stinging it and clawing at her cheek with the tips of its fingers. Its hand came up again and this time Kathrine grabbed the hand holding her face even as the thumb began to press on her eye ball. She howled. _"NO!"_

The fist came sailing towards her face. She pitched her head to the side taking it full on- a gush of hot rusty flavor erupted from the right side of her tongue sending the ache in her face into new levels of agony as she grabbed for the hand before it could pull back. Her slender hand wrapped around it tight and the skeleton's other thumb pressed against her other eye. She sucked in a quick, sharp breath trying to focus. To pray.

The sensation was instantaneous; a warmth of familiar light and the kiss of early autumn wind that carried with it scents of fresh wheat. Of early morning fields and of roses. The rush traveled through Kathrine's body into her voice that somehow ran away from her with the very same essence flowing through her veins. It was a touch of beauty, of Her beauty. "In the name of the Earthmother-" She felt the skeleton resist, trying to ease back from her but she held it tight with a surge of strength she'd never felt before. Even with its thumbs in her eyes she couldn't let go. "I command you to _rest_." The explosion of energy was just as vibrant as the essence and bristled Kat's hair as it flashed through her body into the skeleton, knocking it off her into a heap at her feet.

She rolled over blinking rapidly to get the dirt from her eyes even as the pain in her face swelled. The stinging sensation caused her eyes to tear up blocking her vision despite her best attempts to look back. She scrambled away from the skeleton and rubbed at her eyes to clear them. The remains of the creature laid lifeless before her sprawled out in a lump of fleshless ivory that'd somehow been decorated with tiny pieces of pale blue gemstones along its sternum, only now visible in the light. Kathrine exhaled sharply reaching for her brother's sword to feel the reassuring weight of it in her hand. _Thank you, my lady. . . _She swallowed, eyeing the darkness ahead.


	6. Volume 2: Cold as Hell Chapter 5: End V2

Chapter 5

The errant glow from the overhead roots shone brightly off the impossibly sharp Tressym longsword that Kathrine held in her shaking hand. The pale blue light reflected from deep within the fine etching of the winged cat on the flat of the highly polished blade, glinting particularly bright from the razor thin edge which could easily carve through the thickest straw dummies or the heaviest of leather armors. This she knew for a fact but while standing in front of the remains of the skeleton she began to question the use of such a weapon in every situation. It'd seen her brother through to the very end of his life on four battle fields against men in platemail and lizardfolks.

But he hadn't been fighting skeletons.

She approached warily, rubbing at her right eye and willing the fuzziness in her mind away. She muttered a faint prayer thankful that the skeleton hadn't been able to get its thumbs in her eyes, even though they burned and her mouth tasted of blood and she was sure to have a black eye she had a great deal to be thankful for but the analytical part of her mind, the one her mentor had ensured was a dominant trait, studied the skeleton curiously trying to make sense of the spontaneous animation. As she got closer she raised her blade just slightly, ready to defend herself at a moment's notice. She tapped the foot but it didn't move.

A moment passed in silence before she rubbed at her stinging eye again. _Dammit, that smarts._ She looked down the hallway, finally noticing the sharp leftward curvature of the smooth stone into a deeper chamber beyond, the hallway that the little girl had run down. Kat looked at the skeleton again, nudged it with her blade and then started on past the unmoving pile of bones.

_Hiss. _A sharp exhalation of frigid air brushed over her knee high boot sending a chill up her leg and spine. She jerked away hefting the blade into a combat stance. The skeleton remained still, head tilted to look at her with that eternal grin.

Kat stood there eyeing the corpse for just a moment longer, exhaling her own breath in a soft plume of condensed air. "Shoo. . ." She murmured and slipped around the corpse at a wide berth, peeking around the corner of the hallway into the gloom. The darkness continued for several dozen feet down a steady incline to a wide open corridor with slats of bright sunlight spearing down form the high ceiling to form a lattice of X's over the smooth floor. Deeply engraved in the floor was a raised snowflake covered in a thin shimmering crystal that served to encase the engraving protectively and reflect light at a multitude of angles to light the chamber. She was just about to step down the ramp when her gloved hand brushed the engraving in the wall depicting a blustery wind and then it struck her.

This entire temple was dedicated to Auril.

_Makes sense. _She looked back at the skeleton. In an entire plane with so little natural beauty, the inhabitants _would_ venerate the Frostmaiden to keep themselves alive. It was completely understandable. It'd been staring her right in the face and she was completely oblivious to it. She sighed and stepped down the hall, struggling just slightly with the weight of the blade. The closer she got to the chamber the cooler the air became forcing her to draw her hood up over her head once more, blocking out some of the overhead light but not the reflected, the hood couldn't help her filter out the smell of dried blood that lined the outer circle of the room and coated the walls in thick sprays that stained the stone a dark brown. She gagged, just once, taking another quick look around but all that remained were three solid walls in front of her. She turned to head back up the hall. But hallway was gone.

Kat's heart backed up in her throat as she made a quick run for the wall where the hallway used to be, slamming into it with the dull clatter of her blade and her coat as her weight rammed into the now solid wall. She slapped the wall with the flat of her hand recoiling when it struck the unforgiving wall and sent a jolt of pain through her arm. She whirled around to study the chamber, breath forming as a cloud in front of her, reminding her she was loosing her focus. _Relax. Don't. Panic._

The errant twinkle of snow that happened to drizzle down from between the ceiling slats fell like a lazy waterfall, a frozen reminder of the life stealing chill the Frostmaiden had brought to this plane and all the potential chances She'd stolen from these people with Her suffocating cold. Kathrine looked around carefully, running her hand over the stone trying to avoid the blood as she searched high and low. Nothing gave under her touch but the tingle of spent magic arced over her neck hair, making her heart race, it was a tell tale sign that it was as much an illusion as the stinging cold that brushed her face when she touched her ear to the stone. It was all one big display of magic.

_It's not __real_.

She eased back from the wall using her sword for support while the fringes of her mind mulled over the possibilities that surrounded her, the very same ones that entombed her in a false prison from which there was no visible escape. The wall was solid but she'd traversed it coming from the opposite side. Her lips puckered slightly as she glanced back at it and then forward just as a burst of cold air stung across her bruised cheek to the whisping howl of wind sliding through the slats far above. Kathrine took a step forward standing nearly in the center of the room slowly scanning the walls in front of her trying to find any runes that could have possibly hid doorways or some other illusionary magic but eventually she gave up, resting the tip of her blade to the ground. In the stillness her breathing felt like a violation of some unwritten sanctity that she knew she was _supposed_ to feel in a temple, even one dedicated to an evil bitch like Auril.

Instead the wizard part of her mind, the part that her mentor had taught her to use at all times and now seemed intent on controlling her thoughts, driving her focus to the more unusual explanations rather than a simple one way illusion backed by a force wall, perhaps. Her mind rolled over a multitude of much more convoluted solutions involving spell components she didn't carry and wouldn't have even if she _wanted_ to go around casting necromancy spells- she was overthinking this, big time. Slowly she squatted down on her haunches and set her blade down on the ground, closing her eyes she began breathing in slowly through her nose, out through her mouth trying to find a calm part of her mind. It was hidden behind memories of ghosts and the screams of the dying, the clatter of battle and the whispered words of a lover who's face she couldn't remember but she found it; that calm queit place where she could study the angles of the room and the things her senses were lying to her about.

The truth of the matter was much simpler than the situation looked. Using the angles of the room's layout and the high ceiling, it wouldn't be able to support itself against tons of crushing rock and would have collapsed long ago, even with heavy buttressing which meant the hall was probably just slightly to the left angled away from the symbol at its north west corner. All she had to do was focus her will into it and dispel the illusion. Her eyes shot open looking directly to the corner with sudden pride and awareness that didn't fade at all as she hefted her sword up and walked towards the corner, sliding her fingers into her belt and removing a piece of charcoal. She drew a large doorway that encompassed both sides of the corner all the way down to the floor. Taking a step back she closed her eyes focusing intently on the doorway before her, willing the false wall to crumble into dust leaving a perfectly square hewn stone hallway beyond. She opened her eyes.

The dull stone wall was still there as unyielding as time itself accented by the dull black charcoal. _Hmph._ Kat pursed her lips together and closed her eyes again, pushing everything she had into the mental attempt to dispel the illusion. Slowly her lips came to form the verbal component of her only prepared Dispel- with a wave of her hand she encompassed the floor around her without opening her eyes. She started forward at a steady pace, finishing off the last of the Draconic whispering and completing her spell. At once two things happened; she felt the spell complete its intention and suppress a rather potent illusion and then she ran face first into the wall.

_Dammit, ow!_ Kat jerked back from the cold bloody wall grabbing her bruised face and turned to see the wall directly next to her, the one opposite the hallway she'd entered by, was gone.

She decided at that moment, she probably didn't know nearly as much about structural engineering as she thought she did.

Still rubbing the right side of her face she edged up to the mouth of the hallway and peeked around the corner carefully. The entire chamber beyond laid out several hundred paces deep and a few dozen wide with wide sloping arches carved out of damp stone which had been sheathed in a thick layer of ice. At the very farthest end of the chamber an open maw of a cave face looked out on an endless expanse of white tundra that stretched out to the horizon, colliding with the pale sky laden with voluminous clouds threatening to choke the sunlight from it. Pillars broke up the expansive room carved out of the natural stone and smeared in a thick layer of ice that glinted in the dying light, a total of six of them dividing up the cave mouth into sections.

Kathrine edged around the wall carefully trying to keep from making any noise but for the footfalls of her boots that sounded little more like her own and more akin to a scurrying mouse. It was somehow fitting in the overall scheme of things but she refused to be distracted as she padded down to the lip of the larger room, leaving the sacrificial chamber at her back. She took up a spot behind one of the pillars nearest her looking about the room with a weary uncertainty and knot of growing dread in her stomach. If these people worshiped Auril out of fear then it may well take years to even get them to consider Chauntea, much less actually bringing them into an understanding how much better it would be for them. Furthermore, and perhaps more importantly in the immediate was the issue of the girl-

_Overthinking._ She sighed to herself. _Deep breath. Focus and relax._

She peeked around the pillar, surveying the empty space in the middle of the room. Quietly, she called out. "Hey, are you in here?"

"I knew you had to be it!" A man's voice filled the entire chamber from everywhere at once. His voice was strong, commanding and gruff. "You're the Grain Girl, right?" A long raspy chuckle echoed before trailing off into a sharp gust of wind that ripped through the chamber. "You hurt Her children with your blasphemous actions! These people're confused now! What do you have to say for yourself?"

_Now what. . ._

"Nothing to say, huh? That's a shame, I was looking forward to a debate!"

Kat poked her head around the corner again surveying the dimming light. "They need hope, not fear. . ." Somehow it sounded even lamer to her ears than she thought it did before it got to her lips. "They need food!"

"Oh, so it _will_ be a debate! Excellent! Allow me to start-" Kathrine heard the click of metal on metal just a split second before she saw something shimmer in her peripheral vision. Something large. She instinctively dropped to a knee, slamming into the ground with a crunch but as she fell she felt something something brush the crown of her skull. Ice cracked and shattered spraying a fine mist of bloody frozen water chunks over her. She ducked off to the right side and scrambled away trying to heft her sword as she turned towards her attacker. "I'm sure you can see my point!" The man was tall, easily a head taller than she was, built powerfully with broad shoulders and a soldier's physique covered in a heavy looking chainmail under a plate cuirass. In one large hand he clutched a battleaxe who's blade could've been as wide as Kat's torso. The metal shined in a reflection of light from the shattered pillar casting his angular face in a sinister glint both powerful and terrifying. With each step his grin broadened a little, exposing two rows of incredibly sharp pointed teeth that only seemed to add to his otherworldly appearance, matching his white hair were several chains of beaded blue crystal in a crude necklace that hung over his armor like a physical shield.

_Oh boy, oh boy. . . Don't just stand there, run!_ She swallowed, bracing her foot behind her. She hefted the sword up into a wobbly combat stance just like her father had tried to teach her what seemed like centuries ago. Some Purple Dragon she'd turned out to be.

She licked her lips. He took another step forward sending a shiver up her spine. The man _radiated_ evil and power but she couldn't run, not just yet. "Where's the girl? Where is she?"

"Is that the best you can come up with? Who cares about some primitive mortal snow rat? These people _love_ their goddess! She's but one!"

Kathrine's gaze shot left and right trying to search the growing darkness as the weight of the sword began to drag on her wrist threatening to pull free from her grip even as she brought both hands around the handle. She eyed the approaching figure with bated breath as the pulse of his oppressive aura swept over her in full force. Now only fifteen feet away she could see him in his full strength. He had to have stood seven feet or more with horns poking out from under his white hair- nearly three times her weight in pure muscle and nothing she could do would've effected him. He was invincible. Despite herself, despite everything she'd faced and lived through, she buckled. Her knee trembled and her mind screamed for her to run. She _couldn't_ stop this man in a fair fight.

_You're a wizard, think of something!_

"What's the matter, cat got your tongue?" He smiled another dark grin taking another step towards her. "The Frostmaiden takes care of Her children, girl, you can't possibly comprehend what you're toying with. You-"

Kat juked away around the pillar to her left. "You're a monster!" It was all she could manage as she ducked into the shadow provided by the setting suns. Her mind raced with possibilities- she was a competent wizard but a poor priest even in the best of seasons, a minor acolyte when it came to the true word of her patron. She loved her goddess and Chauntea loved her in return but she couldn't pretend she was anywhere near as capable as some, too often her analytical mind tried to make sense of what was a purely spiritual concept and now she was going to pay for her lack of faith- no, it wasn't a lack of faith.

_Dammit will you stop that!_

She exhaled sharply and slid the tip of her sword into the throat of her scabbard, slamming it home with a trembling hand. "Hear that? I'm not here to fight! We're better than that, we can talk and-"

"Oh but I'm a _monsterrrr_." The man's raspy voice filled the hall. Kat winced at the words even as she heard the soft clatter of mail and plate grow nearer. She pushed off trying to keep a low profile and slink around behind one of the pillars. "No, girl, I think the only thing you're going to be talking to is your goddess telling her how you 'tried your best' and _failed_ utterly!"

Kat licked her lips. "Well hey, uh. . . I've got a proposition for you!"

"Funny, I've got one for you too!"

"You first, then."

There was a moment of silence.

"DIE." Ice cracked and splintered into the main hall from the pillar just behind Kathrine. She involuntarily yelped and dived forward. He turned to the sound quickly, starting towards her at a run. His heavy boots pounded the stone clattering in time with his armor and soon his massive frame was shadowing any reflected light from deeper within the chamber. As she scurried forward Kat could taste the bitter chill of the open air blowing in through the mouth of the cave. She stole a glimpse near the edge and almost instantly wished she hadn't. It was thousands of feet down with only jagged rocks to land on.

Kathrine whirled and skittered from the edge back into the deeper part of the chamber. The man moved to intercept but she was too fast, twisting her weight and taking a sharp right. He took a swing and she ducked low instinctively. The words came quickly as she tumbled away trying to get some distance; she spun on her heel focusing her concentration into her words she belted out the incantation for her magic missile spell and threw her hand forward naming him as the target.

There was a flash of light that arched from her hand as the four fist sized blue missiles spread out from her hand and flew through the air approaching him at opposite sides of his flanks. In that flash of light, however, she could make out the features of a humanoid figure frozen in one of the ice pillars; they'd thrown their arm up to defend their face or duck away only to be turned solid by something. This realization sent Kat's heart pounding in her chest but she continued her second incantation even before the first batch of missiles had hit. Plumes of white hot magic slammed into his armor burning black scorches into the dirty plate but two of them didn't seem to have any effect at all. Kathrine finished her second incantation just as he started to run towards her. She threw her hand forward and he took a swing, narrowly missing her considerably smaller fingers. The missiles flew forward battering into his chest and for just one split second he staggered. Kat considered firing off her last batch but decided against it, pitching her weight to the side trying to get some distance while the man began a low rhythmic chant and started at her again at full pitch.

She'd become adept at deciphering the intent of most spells though she knew considerably more about arcane gestures and spells, she could still recognize a healing chant when she heard one. She'd hurt him. He _wasn't_ invulnerable. Kat exhaled a sharp breath and pumped her arms as she took a quick inventory of her spells, frowning. A gust of wind, fog cloud, another scintillating sphere and the remaining magic missile. She stole a quick glance over her shoulder as the man slipped into the darkness beyond the pillars. It seemed she'd bought herself a few seconds but not nearly enough to make any coherent plan.

"They called you a priest!" The man growled. "Damned fool mage!"

"I -am- a priest!"

"We'll see about that!" His chanting changed, quickened pace with guttural grunts mixed into the low rumbling of his voice. Kathrine scampered off to the opposite side of the chamber peeking back and trying, desperately, to discern the pattern to his chanting. Before she could make any sense out of it she felt something brush across her shoulder threatening to wrap around her. She turned just slightly to see fangs. Fangs and spindly insect legs out stretched, a massive thorax as large as she was and a bloated abdomen.

_Holy- _Without thinking Kathrine focused herself quickly bringing the scent of wheat and roses to the forefront of her mind. She opened her eyes murmuring "_Chauntea please spare the vermin your splendor._" The sense of energy being released that was supposed to fend off undead was instantaneous as was the spider's reaction. It stopped in mid strike, backed away with his fore legs up and scuttled off to the side. Kat sighed relief and she was sure she could hear the man laughing in the background.

"Not bad, girl! But you're going to feel Her chill before this is over!"

Kathrine glanced at the spider which was picking up a quicker pace away from her and then to the mouth of the cave. The flash of inspiration was quick but it was blinding. . . And it was beautiful. "Yeah, maybe so. Kind of already wore through my elemental wards!" She quickly ducked into the shadows trying to put more distance between herself and the man, slinking up near the farthest wall she got closer towards the edge of the opening, peering into the almost complete darkness far below, she looked back. It was risky but she might be able to pull it off. "Hey uh. . . what's your name, anyway?"

Something cracked and broke deeper in the chamber. Ice. He was done talking.

Her boots swished together as she crawled away from the edge and back into the growing darkness of the chamber. It was nearly getting too dark to see but she had subconsciously memorized the layout of the room, automatically finding a position about ten feet in from the edge and taking up a spot in what she hoped was the absolute darkest area of the chamber. She inhaled a half breath and began a quiet incantation with what little air she had managed. The Draconic syllables flowed smoothly enough from her lips forming a gentle condensation in the air infront of her and as she began the somatic component, moving her hands quickly to form the runes she needed. She exhaled her breath at the tail end of the gesture blowing out a long billowing cloud of condensed air that began growing quickly to fill in the entire opening of the cave even trailing off of the mouth of the cave like a waterfall. It started at knee height but it was quickly expanding when Kathrine began a low chant of her own, half whispering her prayer for help and half chanting in the way she'd been taught. _Lady, I beg for your help to protect this community and- in time- show them the ways of your bounty._

A soft crackle of energy sparked deep in the growing cloud of fog and a seam formed and opened silently pushing the fog aside and giving way to a large dog who's coat shone so brightly it had its own glow to it. Kat smiled warmly to the hound and pointed to the deeper bank of fog. _Please, wait about in here. Pace back and forth and when I begin casting, come to me. _The hound turned to look at her for just a split second and then it was swallowed up by the fog that continued to grow to reach the ceiling. Soon it was impossible to see out into the night air. It was perfect.

"Oh dammit~" Kat said just loud enough to be heard with enough surprise to sound genuinely distressed before she slunk into the dark beside the pillar. She closed her eyes willing herself to become smaller. There was a faint glow that moved just inside the edge of the fog bank going to the opposite wall of the chamber. It stopped there for a moment. Something metal clicked nearby followed by some soft chants that Kat was fairly sure was an inflict harm blessing. She swallowed hard against the lump in her throat when the clapping of metal became louder, closer.

"Stupid girl_._"

Click clack click. His armor grated against his form as he walked past her hiding spot. Mere feet away, Kathrine could spell the stench of rot on his armor. By reflex she peeked just in time to see his back, covered in gore and turned to her approaching Her celestial dog. The dog turned back towards Kathrine and began a lazy trot. The man stopped in mid step, turning his axe over and eyeing the procession. _Go! Go go go. . . Come on, go!_

But he didn't. He stood right there.

Kathrine inhaled sharply. Waited. When the dog got closer to her position she slunk around the pillar a little bit, turned her head to face the dog's direction and said in a low but deliberate voice. "Can't. . . see. . . Damn this spell."

She held her breath. _Please stop. Don't move from that spot. _She mentally asked of the dog.

A moment passed in stillness.

And another.

There was a soft clink of metal on metal and he was moving again, towards the glow in the fog. She slipped back around the pillar. The clinking became a little louder. Had he found her? Her heart slammed into her ribs. He _had_.

Kat exploded around the corner of the pillar just in time to see the man's axe raised towards the fog with his blood splattered back to her. She didn't waste a second. The incantation began quickly and before he even had noticed her voice she was more than half way through it, forcing her fingers to move in quick succession despite the adrenaline running through her veins. She was in a far off place, she had to be for it to work. He turned to face the sound of her voice and so did the dog, it ran right between his legs to get to her. He quickly recovered his footing but it was already too late, she'd completed the spell and a gust of hard wind blew right into him slamming into his chest and simultaneously blowing away the cloud to reveal the edge of the outcropping only a couple of yards away.

The man braced his feet behind him but Kat forced herself forward just a little bit before the spells' energy expired. _Get him!_ She quickly began her invocation to dispatch her last Missile spell. The dog ran forward straight into the gust of wind before it'd finished. It skidded left, loosing its footing in the effect of the spell and the man was forced to make a choice; deal with the dog sliding towards his legs or give up ground to try and get out of the way. Kathrine was half way through her missile spell and the dog was recovering itself quickly. Everything was going right. She took a couple of steps forward mentally preparing to grab the dog so it didn't fall off the edge.

Then something big and heavy slammed into her back sending her reeling forward face first into the man's range. The dog jumped at the man and they pitched back together, he slammed on to his back side just as Kathrine got her Missile off which slammed into his chest. He grabbed for the stone but it was too late, he was too close to the edge. He tumbled over into the dark. The glowing dog went right after that. Kat was sliding forward too fast and with only a couple of feet to the edge she had only precious seconds to right herself.

She rolled over and spun her body trying to get a hold on the stone but she couldn't. She looked up for what'd knocked her forward and saw the spider. Eight massive eyes staring down at her as she scrabbled for purchase. Momentum carried her still forward. She clawed with her fingernails at the stone. It was too late, though.

In the next instant she was falling.

She was falling.

_2/26/1381 (Relative)_

"_I remember what the other thing was. 'Don't drink the water you bathe in.' I'd like to think there's some kind of prolific metaphorical meaning to this but the only thing that comes to mind is the literal. It's sound advice, I suppose, but I still wonder. . . Did he mean more by it than that?"_

-Diary of Kathrine Stoneriver


	7. Volume 3: All Hands on Deck: Chapter 1

The Missionary

Volume 3 - All Hands on Deck

Chapter 1 - From Uncertain Heights (Prologue)

Author's Note: Hey there and thanks for taking the time to read this. I hope you're enjoying it as much as I enjoy writing it (so far! :)) So, this is going to serve as the prologue for Volume 3. It's by far the -shortest- piece I've posted to date but most of my time has been spent trying to recharge my batteries and stuff over the last couple of days.

I'd like to say that if you like/dislike or flat out hate this story please drop me a PM or a review telling me why so I can improve! It's part of learning and I love to learn. I've got thick skin so nothing you'll say is going to hurt me :)

Anyway, on with the show!

_2/27/1381 (Relative)_

"_I still see her when no one's looking, you know. On the breeze, I hear her voice brushing my ear and in the corners of my eyes I know I see her face looking at me just beyond the window pane or in the back of a crowd. My heart soars for just a second but I look and there's nothing there. . . I'm blessed to feel the company of friends and those things I once- and still do- love but sometimes I really would like some peace and quiet. Maybe some day I'll find it. But if not, I guess I can fake it well enough for it not to matter, huh?"_

-Diary of Kathrine Stoneriver

The air whistled by her head as she plummeted from the face of the rock. Her platinum blonde hair whipped forward to mask either side of her face forcing her to focus on the massive spider that was looking over the edge down at her as the mountain's pitted, crumbling facade zoomed by her only a few feet away from her feet. She wanted to scream but her mind was too busy working out scenarios. She _wanted_ to be terrified but her mind refused, it held her soul in a vice grip with the reassuring words of her mentor. _Don't panic._

She could hear the man below her shouting something as her celestial dog tore at his armored chest on the way down but she couldn't bring herself to look back as much afraid of what she might see as knowing just how much time they had before they hit the base of the mountain. She had but one arcane spell left to her and not nearly enough time to request a blessing from Chauntea even if she _could_ form the words. All she could do was fall.

The realization shanked her right between the shoulder blades with fear. She was going to die. Nothing she _could_ do was going to change that. She had a powerful evocation prepared but it wouldn't help. She couldn't focus enough to pray and even _if_ her patron wasn't busy with someone more important, she couldn't ask for much aside from the comfort that she'd see Her soon. There was nowhere to go. Nothing left to do but wait.

Kathrine took a deep breath and allowed her eyes to close. In the darkness she felt the presence of something there, tickling the nerve endings along her entire body. As though the act had opened her up to the sensations of the world for one brilliant moment before her death, she could feel the wind cross her skin, the scents of the reagents in her coat picked up sharply to fill her nostrils with the tell tale musk of prepared herbs and oils. It was unsettling at first but somehow comforting. Was it the release of the soul from the physical body? Maybe she'd already hit the ground and it already over. . . She opened her eyes experimentally.

Wind whipped her hair across the bruised right side of her face causing her eye to sting but in that instant she could see all around her in one movement. She was still falling. Clouds brushed past her lazily, opening for her terminal decent and leaving tubular spirals through an endless expanse of soft grey lighting. She tried to crane her head to find the man she'd pushed over the cliff. Just in time, she saw him pivot leftwards and right himself. His descent stopped and he stood there as she continued to fall. His massive battle axe was gone, replaced by a simple mirror looking object which he now held in her path.

She forced herself to roll over and started preparing her final spell, running quickly through the permutations in Draconic following her hand motions. For some reason she could feel the words come faster, the energies coalesced around her arms at nearly the speed of thought, wrapping around them and sliding into her fingers to form a fist sized ball of electricity. She pulled on it, continuing the evocation until it was about the size of her head. When she was only several feet away she loosed it at him, silently praying that her feeble elemental ward would keep the discharge from killing her. But then, maybe she was already dead and this wouldn't matter.

The ball of electricity slammed into his chest and he started to fall over. She could see his eyes go wide a split second before the ball expanded to its full size erupting with a sharp and instantaneous _woosh_ of static electricity and unbridled destruction. It exploded not five feet away and seared her entire body with a flash of brilliant pain. It arced over every fiber of her being causing her to flinch and try to pull away but it was far too late. The electricity seared her exposed flesh in an instant and burned her hair as she continued to plummet ever downward. A groan escaped her lips from some subconscious place.

She barely noticed the small mirror pass her by from where the man had been standing before she blacked out from the pain.

A gentle tug. A voice, familiar. _Time to wake up._ But Kathrine didn't want to wake up. She was tired and dreaming of something pleasant. But what? She hadn't been dreaming. She wasn't asleep in the World Serpent. She wasn't. . .

Where the hell was she?

Her eyes barely managed to open in time to see a bright swirling disk of pale teal before her. She had enough time to register the information before she crashed through it like a rock through a window. There was no new pain but a sudden _pull_ on her body from behind, slowing her down considerably. In the next instant she was falling from a new height, not through clouds but only open darkness with an expanse of water below in every direction. She sucked in a sharp breath. Her face hurt all over. Something smelled of burnt hair. She splashed into the empty ocean spectacularly and something punched her in the chest, ripping the air from her lungs.

Currents pulled her in every direction. She clawed for the surface but the riptide grabbed her by her coat tails and yanked her back down. Her hand touched the warm air but she was back down under. _No._ She cried out feebly into the ether, kicking hard against the crushing weight of her wet clothes. _No. _The tide pulled her left with a solid tug. She broke the surface again managing a gulp of humid air before the tide dragged her back under. Under. Into the dark. A sharp pull dragged her leftward, up and back down. An invisible force throwing her about like a rag doll an a formless, airless body of liquid. Kat grabbed her backpack trying to get loose. To get _away_ from the dead weight pressing down on her.

She pitched and shoved off with a powerful thrust and broke the surface of the water still trying to get her pack off before she got dragged under again. A sound rumbled in the distance and Kat turned to it. Her heart stopped for just one second.

Water was pouring over the edge of the sea like a giant stack of planes in an infinite horizon of darkness. Another plane below the one she was pouring water over its own sides far below into the darkness beyond, leaving Kathrine's mind to wonder exactly where it was coming from. She tried to fight the currents, to will herself forward, away from the edge. But nothing she could do would break the current's hold on her.

With the powerful, instant pull of the tide she was pulled under again and next thing she knew she was falling through open air wondering where her life had really gone wrong. She closed her eyes before she hit the lower plane but somewhere between the water and the upper plane she blacked out and never felt the impact.


	8. Volume 3: All Hands on Deck: Chapter 2

Chapter 2

"Adlanniel? Why do we have hide it? It's not like I'm ashamed of how I feel. . ." Kathrine looked to the elven woman with a faint twinge of uncertainty. Within the woman's brilliant amber eyes a thousand secrets swirled in a nebulous torrent of formulae and spell permutations that threatened to breach the surface given only a breath, a movement of the hand and the application of her considerable will. She held Kathrine's heart, much like her body, by a thread. She was in complete control and the danger was intoxicating. . . Kathrine swallowed. "Are _you_?"

There was no reply. The woman simply watched her as she traced the edge of Kathrine's ear with a fine wheat colored finger, it was a silent reminder of what _she_ would never be. She'd never live to see the end of her mentor's life, she couldn't possibly hope to keep this woman, she should've known better. She _did_ know better but every other part of her mind told her she could find a way, there had to have been something that'd keep them together even if it took a while to find, there were ways. Laying in her arms with the pale half-light dancing across her hair, Kathrine couldn't imagine a more perfect, more pure innocence than to hear the gentle pulse of life flowing through the woman's heart as she stroked Kat's head. It was closeness. It was life. It was beautiful.

The gentle kiss of the wool blanket that laid sprawled over her lower body dampened slightly around her toes causing her to flinch away. Connor hadn't had time to fix the leak in the roof and now she was going to pay for it, again. Kat sighed, crawling up Adlanniel's form to straddle her waist and hug her close. The woman didn't react, though except to stroke the side of her face, just once. It felt like nails raking down her flesh and she tried to pull away but the only place she could go was back. Her legs were wet, her lower back too. And still Adlanniel continued to rake at her cheek with her nails no matter how she pulled away.

Something sloshed at the edge of her mind and Adlanniel raked her fingernails over Kat's entire face at once. She winced away, yanked herself free from the woman's reach but the nails still burned across her skin as she sat up. Her eyes shot open but the breath she tried to form died on her lips. No shouts, no screams, no surprised yelps. Just a light pant as her body tried to draw in the thin, moist air and make use of it. Her face hurt, her neck hurt. Her coat felt like a suit of chainmail digging into her shoulders and her backpack pulled on her upper back like an invisible hand fighting her to keep herself upright. Her thin boots were sunken into something mailable underneath her but it was firm enough to allow her to remain sitting without falling. She looked around slowly as water lapped at her, lazily brushing against her with a gentle current pulling to her left. As far as she could see an expanse of water laid out in every direction around her, an infinite plane of onyx reflecting some unseen light from the tar black sky and casting only the faintest shadow over Kathrine's body.

Far to her right was a sheet of water hanging in the sky and pouring into the sea from three sides with an endless waterfall of dark blue water that only turned black when it hit the lower plane. She coughed and sputtered sending needles of pain through her cheeks and forehead, in a blinding flash of agony she hunched over and grabbed her face trying to suck in the damp air to form words. She closed her eyes as much to stop the stinging of her tears from adding to the tingle of the water running down her face as to keep herself focused. A twinge of pain whipped at her neck as her long hair slid down the nape to pool around her in the water. _Dammit. Ow._

Kathrine cringed despite everything that told her to ask for help. The pain was blinding and it was _everywhere._ Across her skin, her hair, her feet. She couldn't think of anything other than _it_. She grabbed her temples, pressing her finger tips to them she could feel the telltale wrinkle of seared flesh- it was bad. It was _very_ bad. She sucked in a shaky breath. _Focus, focus. Focus. _Exhaling it as a rasp, her breath sputtered into a wave that lapped at her upper body. And another. _Focus._ The water continued to rise as she sat there trying to focus herself.

Slowly the focus gave way to stillness, the pain ebbing away into the flow of water that rose around her neck like a collar. She couldn't _feel_ the warmth of her patron's light in this dark place, there was no scent of fresh wheat, no kiss of the summer sky, nothing at all connecting her to Chauntea. A moment of panic rammed her heart into her throat as she clawed into her temples for that tenuous link as though it might become physical. Had she been abandoned? What'd she done wrong? Did She not love her child any more? What'd she done _wrong_?

Kathrine screamed her frustration and pain to the darkness and got a mouth full of tepid water for her trouble. She swallowed involuntarily to keep from choking, throwing her head back and coughing harsh, empty sobs out to the nobodys who'd hear them. Not even her goddess would listen now. The water continued its steady rise around her shoulders when she sat upright, heedless to her cries, uncompromising to the raspy sobs roiling in her throat. _No!_ Kat growled, trying to push herself up to stand. In all her travels she'd been hit with things, beat up, blasted by spells and nearly killed a number of times- she hadn't given in then and she wouldn't now- She _wouldn't._

Her knees nearly buckled under the extra weight of her clothing and equipment despite her best efforts she sloshed down to one knee with a heavy thud as her knee drove into the soft sand below the surface. _Is that all? Come on, you call yourself a Stoneriver?_ She growled._ GET UP. _She wanted to sit down, just for a minute. What was wrong with that? _No!_ _UP. NOW. _Her body exploded in agony as she planted both hands on her knee and forced all of her strength into hauling herself up. Somewhere along the way she lost a couple of seconds, she was standing upright with no memory of having actually stood up but she couldn't bring herself to care, instead focusing her will into testing the depths of her surroundings. She was on a sand bar of some sort, that much was clear, but the extent of her freedom was another matter entirely.

She took a deep breath just about to lick her lips before she remembered the feeling of her temples. She swallowed instead, groaning a light sigh as she fingered the wands on her belt. They were arcane wands, she knew they were, she hadn't had money to buy healing wands yet she still checked them individually trying to find something to numb the pain across her body. Her eyes stung, they _burned_ with fresh tears forcing her to slam her eyes shut as she continued checking through her belt's inventory while the water gently ebbed up against her thighs and the gentle pull of current to her left became more insistent. A low rolling fog began to settle across the surface of the water, the moments ticking off in silence unbothered by her soft sobs of pain and self-loathing. How had she been so thoughtless as to not pack _some_ kind of mundane healing-

Just as quickly as the thought registered her fingers slipped to a familiar vial on her belt's left side behind her brother's sword. It was squarish and the glass stopper that'd been rammed into the neck was held firmly in place by a leather thong that kept it secure in her belt pouch. She sighed an audible whimper of release as she pulled the thongs free and shoved the bottle upward from the underside, into her hand and in the next moment she was yanking the stopper free. She threw her head back to keep her hair off her face and downed the contents which amounted to little more than a couple of handfulls of thick, viscous liquid which rolled down her throat like a cooling salve. Almost instantly the main numbed and faded into nothingness, her entire body wavered for just a second with a sudden rush of energy that was both unexpected and overpowering. The telltale itch of mending flesh replaced the burning sensation across her face and eyes and within a couple of breaths even that faded leaving her a little more self aware and, she was sure, a bit more focused.

Kathrine replaced the stopper and slid the bottle back into her belt unconsciously before taking a deep breath, simply content to _feel_ the air fill her lungs and not hurt in some manner. The magic had done its job and now she had to focus on other problems. The water lapped at her waist gently as she turned to the right, trying to test the depths of the sand bar, finding only a few feet of distance before it fell off into oblivion. She took another deep breath of the moisture rich air forcing it down despite the part of her that wanted to cough. It was only when she finally managed to still her mind that she really noticed the growing fog around the sand bar and how close it was to her in the faint light. It was light and voluminous hanging over the water like a sheet spreading out several hundred paces in every direction, however as the water continued to rise, the fog dissipated into the black water only to reform several seconds later like tendrils of some forsaken god trying to reach for the surface of a dying planet.

She turned back towards her left as the pressure pushing against her legs became more insistent still, quietly pulling her ever closer to the unknown edge of the plane she was on. The water began to lap against her lower back while she stood there but somehow she couldn't bring herself to be afraid. At worst she would probably fall off the edge into infinity and-

_Stop that. You're a wizard, think of something!_

_I'm a priest. _She insisted to no one in particular.

_Not right now you're not._

A long sigh slipped her lips unintentionally. The fog continued to roil around her until it was nearly over her shoulders trying to keep pace with the water which was beginning to pull even more and press against the middle of her back. She took a deep breath and hugged her arms over her chest, closing her eyes. At the rate the water was rising she'd be submerged in a minute or so, she didn't have anything she could float with and she was being pulled into an unknown ether where she couldn't communicate with her goddess and if she _did_ die, it likely meant she wouldn't have any way of getting to Her. _Not right now, you're not a priest, no you're not._

"Well look at this. . ." A low rumbling man's voice said from somewhere behind her. Kat tried to turn quickly but her body sloshed the water around her and caused it to splash up against her face. The utter absurdity of what she saw left her speechless. A ship towered over her, made of intricately carved wood stained deep brown with a soft lacquered sheen with a raised prow carved of solid shining silver that had been painstakingly worked to resemble a roaring sphinx with wings swept back protectively over the long forward deck and while the wings stopped near the front, the absolute length of the deck was easily long enough to have fit her father's farm on it. With no visible masts and only minimal rigging hanging over the side, it was impossible to tell how it moved but for just a second, Kathrine was sure she could feel the tingle of magic coursing through the air. As she squinted she could make out the detailing of several silver trimmed wind etchings running parallel along the wide bottom of the hull like faint wisps of air that curled in on themselves near the raised rearward cabin that stood about as tall as a house. The wider bottom lead inward to a gentle rolling curve before widening out again to support the main deck giving the ship a kind of femininity that would have been kind of beautiful if not for the ocean of blackness all around.

The entire ship hovered over the very fog that surrounded her, though riding it instead of the water itself like a cushion of air the massive vessel didn't make the slightest disturbance in the waves and actually seemed to be rising slowly as the fog creeped over Kat's shoulders. Staring down at her over the highly polished railing was a man with tawny, windswept hair framing bright golden eyes and sharp cheeks along with a bare chest. Something about the angle was odd though, his shoulders were set strangely and the gloved hands she saw- it wasn't a man. The gloved hands were actually paws easily the size of her skull or bigger. Just before he spoke again she saw a flurry of motion behind his shoulders. Dark brown wings arched back and then folded close to his body again as he watched her from his perch. "Nice night for a swim, isn't it?"

"Uh. . ." Kat swallowed. "Yeah, but it's uh. . . Little chilly now!" The water slipped over her neck. "A- any chance I could uh. . . I dunno-"

"I've got a riddle for you. Let's see how light you are on your feet, if you're up to it, that is." The man smiled displaying a pair of wickedly sharp canines that glistened in the muted light. Just behind him shapes moved back and forth scurrying one place or the other and casting awkward shadows over what little of the feline Kat could see from her angle. "What say you, little morsel?"

"H-" She spit some water out as it crested her lips and tried to scurry along the sand bar to find a higher elevation. "How about this! You eat something you neither plant nor plow, it's the son of water, but if water touches it, it dies. What is it?" Her movements were sluggish even despite her every attempt to push forward against the tide, it was beginning to drag on her even more. She'd played enough games with Sphinx's to realize they enjoyed a bit of irony, especially when they weren't expecting it.

The gamble paid off; the sphinx laughed a low throaty growl. "Oh, the morsel has teeth, does she?" His massive paw slipped from the railing and he was back down behind it muttering something in clipped grunts that Kat couldn't identify as any language. In another breath a thick knotted rope was sailing over the railing, splashing loudly in the otherwise still air. "Get the wood wet and you'll be drying it." The sphinx bellowed from above.

She didn't need to be told twice. She dived for the rope. Her heart stopped as she fell just a bit short, the current pulled at her legs but she refused it, kicking with everything she could find against her heavy pack and coat. Trying desperately to find the bulb at the end, she reached out again and again. She was floundering and she knew it. _Focus. Come on. . . _Her pack began pushing on her upper body, shoving her into the tepid water as her coat began dragging her under as though someone had tied weights to her belt. Her strength sapped, she could do little more than watch the rope dissappear from view when her frantic kicking became still. Her muscles quivered and fought back against her mind's demands to get _moving_. She was so close and so _damned_ far.

_No. MOVE._ She tried to cry out against the weight like it would help anything but instead a surge of strength forced her forward and upward just within grabbing range of the rope. She managed to bring her hand around the base and a burst of accomplishment and relief swept over her. _Told you!_ She panted as she brought her other hand up wrapping her forearm around the next highest knot, pushing off and up trying to get to the next knot up the line. Her hand slipped. She cried out in surprise and fear, the water still around her waist as an ever present reminder that she wasn't safe.

Slowly Kathrine brought her arm up again and tried to haul her feet out of the water. Just a little farther, she'd have it. A little farther and she'd be safe and dry and completely at the mercy of people she didn't know. It sure beat the hell out of drowning. She grunted as she finally managed to get both arms around a knot and her feet out of the water. She wrapped the rope around her foot and stood on it with her other foot to lock herself in and rest her weight on her leg. Hugging the rope to her chest she sighed out a long cry of relief. _Can do this. Just gotta keep going._

She looked up trying to gauge the distance to the railing seeing, instead, four faces with a slight green-brown tint stretched tight over an elongated skull and dull yellow eyes. They could have easily passed for undead if not for the way they looked to one another then back down to her out of sheer apparent boredom perhaps silently placing bets on whether or not she'd fall back in the water and drown or if she'd make it.

She was beginning to wonder herself.

Kathrine took a deep calming breath. _Right, just get up there and. . . make friends. You're good at that, right?_ She looked up and unlaced her foot from the coil, pinching the insides of both her feet together on the bottom knot before she brought both of her shaking hands around a knot above her. _Right._ The climb started slowly but with each foot of height she managed to get up her confidence grew, bolstered by the sense of empowerment and accomplishment of her own survival. She was getting good at this. She'd been lucky, perhaps undeservedly so, but she was still getting better at focusing. She had something to be proud of, right? _Why not._ A soft grunt escaped her lips as she got closer to the middle section of the ship.

The ship wasn't quite as big as she had first thought it was, standing maybe forty foot tall from bottom to deck she had to take frequent breaks to keep from loosing her energy but it wasn't a gargantuan mountain she had thought it was which somehow made it more personal, like a community she was getting ready to meet with. She'd need to be courteous, careful to avoid anything even remotely offensive and, until she knew what was going on, she'd have to be the perfect guest. Maybe starting with a thank you wouldn't be a bad idea.

Kathrine pulled herself up another few rungs and wrapped her legs around the rope to catch her breath, expelling a long sigh. The audience above had grown to include a man with regal hair swept back neatly between a pair of horns on either side of his skull that had been polished to a dull sheen. He placed a white gloved hand against his cheek looking down at her with clear and evident disdain as his dark eyes roamed her form. She paused, stealing a glance down at the water. Was she really safer going up there? She'd never actually _met_ a tiefling before but she'd heard plenty of stories, mostly of the baby eating variety, but there were always exceptions to every rule. Much like the Fangvale tribe, the classical 'monster' mold was broken by the occasional individual or group that sought something more for themselves, but was this one of those or was she crawling into something much worse than her own grave?

"Tsk tsk, what'm I going to do with that?" The tiefling glanced down to his left. "I mean look at her, she's got _burned _hair!"

"I like my dinner a little crispy, I can deal with it." A low rumbling voice responded. The sphinx.

"I can hear you, you know!" Kat huffed, looking back up the rope. Eight feet from the railing she began to really question her options.


	9. Volume 3: All Hands on Deck: Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Kathrine locked her feet and held the heavy rope to her chest while gravity tried to pull her back to the expanse of onyx colored water. Far in front of her the plane she was on ended in a cascading waterfall off into oblivion while just behind her the creaking of the massive ship whispered of the further unknowns waiting aboard. Would the Sphinx really eat her? What about the tiefling and those strange people with the yellow eyes? She closed her eyes for a moment hugging the rope tighter still, murmuring a quiet prayer to whoever might be listening in this forsaken place.

Then she pushed off with her powerful legs, grabbing a hand full of rope above her and pulling. Locking her feet in again as she'd been taught long ago she looked up to the three faces watching her passively; the two gaunt looking humanoids glanced at each other, their thin lips not moving in the least while right next to them, the tiefling with the slicked back hair rubbed his cheek with a finger watching her with deep pale blue eyes which couldn't really hide the curiosity in his gently lined face. From her perch there she could see his expression turn from curiosity to a strange kind of uneasiness the longer he watched her. He had the look of a concerned father, if only in the most remote sense but soon enough it passed and he pulled back from the railing murmuring to someone near him.

The two men looked at each other for a moment longer and then back down at Kat. The one shrugged and stepped back from the railing as well, followed by the other, leaving her to decide once more what she truly intended to do. Not knowing what else _to_ do, she climbed and locked her feet so she could peer over the railing without totally exposing herself.

There were more of the gaunt, brown skinned men that were fighting a few dozen feet away near the mid deck, their billowing cloth outfits were sashed around the wrists, ankles and waist with just enough freedom to be comfortable and provide grappling points. Several thick grass mats had been laid down and as one slammed another down it became quickly apparent that they were training for something. Behind them similar men were fighting with swords and beautiful gold colored cuirasses laden with gothic lines and a kind of solemn regality Kathrine had only seen in images of fairy tale stories about forgotten kingdoms. Nearer her the two men that'd been watching her were crawling down a small hatch a few paces away near the prow while the tiefling and sphinx stood close by talking quietly to one another.

The creature was powerfully built with thick coiled muscles wrapped tight around his feline body as though at any moment they'd spring and he'd launch off in an attack. Numerous scars here and there marked his milk chocolate colored fur but he looked no less noble with his human head held back, hair flowing in some faint wind and his large wings contracted near his spine. It was only by noticing the swish of his tail that Kathrine got the sense something wasn't quite going as intended. He was upset.

The tiefling stood just in her view from catching every expression but she could tell that he was flustered, trying to explain something to the creature without coming across as insulting, maybe? His deep blue silks reflected in the muted light while he moved his hands this way and that to illustrate his point with small gestures. Kat swallowed when she heard the rumbling growl of the sphinx. His claws slipped from his paws to click against the deck and he took a step forward. The tiefling took a step back.

She didn't know the context of the argument, she really didn't care, she knew she couldn't help the man or even if she _should_ have but it was the one thing that never changed in Her eyes. Chauntea was a goddess of growth, of renewal. . . Her arms burned and throbbed as she forced herself up to grab the underside of the railing and slapped the wood with a loud _thud_. She wasn't going to let someone get killed if there were other ways. Her body screamed its protest to her pushing off on the rope, hooking her leg over the rail. She tried to sit upright but all she could manage was a shift of her weight.

In the next instant she thumped on to the deck on her back staring up at the black sky as he lungs emptied out a grunt. Out of the corner of her eye she saw the sphinx's claws retract and he started towards her, brushing past the tiefling who'd paled a few shades. She sighed out her relief, however short lived it might be. "T- Thank you. . ." Kathrine took a deep breath trying to hook her foot under her left side so she could roll over. The sphinx stopped a foot away from her and sat down with his nose wrinkled and from that angle Kat could see just how noble he was.

His body had to have been about ten feet long with a proud chest decorated in old scars that lead to a fine angular face of a man no older than thirty, long flowing hair that framed his brown eyes in a soft light; carrying neither warmth nor concern as he regarded her, he frowned slightly before speaking in that same rumbling growl. "She smells. . . Get her cleaned up."

Kat swallowed back on her voice as she forced herself on to all fours suddenly aware of how cold she was. Her arms felt like wet noodles and her face itched all over. She coughed to the side wondering just what she'd gotten herself into. "Uh-"

"But-" The tiefling began in a wavering tone.

The massive sphinx turned so quickly Kat didn't register the movement until he was standing in front of the tiefling with his hind quarters lowered just slightly as if to pounce on him. The tiefling recoiled reflexively, throwing his hands up to protect his face as a high pitched scream erupted from his throat. "Eee!"

Kat coughed again and forced herself to sit on her knees, not trusting her arms to hold her any longer. Before she could move to help the man, the sphinx stepped to the side and around him, plodding off down the deck past the training yellow eyed men and into the most rearward cabin on the ship. The door opened several feet before he got close and from her angle she could make out a candle lit interior with a large carpet in the center and more stained wood furniture inside. She looked up to the tiefling barely managing a soft sigh. "You okay?"

The tiefling glanced after his would be attacker and then to her before smoothing out his fine silks and in a haughty, high born voice he harumphed. Tugging on his shirt to make it sit right he murmured. "Some day, fur ball."

Despite herself she had to smile. "He's kindda. . . wound tight, huh?"

"You! My dear girl, look like hell and trust me, I know!" He flashed a smile displaying a row of pointed teeth all polished to a mirror sheen. "Up you go!" His slender hand shot out and he motioned her upwards. "Up up, c'mon! We've got a lot to do and you're sitting on the deck like an abused animal. Up!"

Kathrine reached for the railing and dug her sopping wet foot under herself and began pushing up with a low groan. Her knee threatened to buckle under the sudden weight and for a moment she was stuck half way between standing and kneeling as her thighs burned and screamed their protest to the abuse of the last several hours. Or maybe days. Perhaps weeks, if the fluid time concept held up to any kind of scrutiny. She grabbed the railing and forced herself to stand with a sharp exhale of breath. _Overthinking. . ._

"That's it! This way, now! Come, come!" His higher than normal timbre raked across Kat's ears like nails on a blackboard setting the finer hairs on the back of her neck at end. A shiver ran down her spine as she hugged her arms to fight off the growing chill across her body. The persistent tap, tap, tap of water falling from her coat slowly began to melt into the sounds of the men training and even her own breathing along with the sounds of creating wood forming a kind of odd cadence to the entire ship that made Kathrine think of home on a busy summer tending session. It was normalcy in an otherwise fantastic situation, in some small way it was rather cathartic. "Come on you silly girl." The tiefling's voice pulled her out of her reprieve.

"Huh?"

"You need a shower and _something_ must be done with your hair." The man was already turning towards the hatch behind him as if he had no doubt Kat would follow. When she didn't, he looked back, rolling his eyes with a theatrical sigh. Lips pursed out and pouted he added "You _could_ stand there freezing your considerable ass off or we can get you cleaned up and dressed properly, ay?"

"I uh. . . I'm grateful for the help and-" She blinked. "Hey, what do you mean 'considerable'!"

"Sweety, have you _seen_ a mirror in the last five years?" He rolled his eyes as he turned around at the hatch and started down the ladder. She frowned and rubbed at her arms glancing down the deck and then back towards the hatch. Did she trust this group not to hurt her or something more? They had plenty of opportunity to do so yet hadn't lifted a finger to do anything, infact they'd invited her aboard when they could've just as easily let her drown or worse.

She swallowed and started forward towards the hatch with heavy, trembling knees.

As she got to the ladder and began climbing down several questions occurred to her almost instantaneously; what were they doing there at that exact time? How come they'd decided to help her at all? Perhaps more important still, what did they expect to get in return? She was just about to open her mouth when she hit the last rung and turned to see a small hallway melt around them into a large room full of ornate pillows piled in front of rich wine colored curtains to about waist height and ringing a very wide circular bed with dark red silk sheets ruffled up under a pair of white fluffy pillows. Candles flickered alive as soon as the room came into full view casting a warm glow to match the growing temperature that gradually began thawing the chill in Kathrine's body

She sucked in a breath tasting a faint undercurrent of sage and olive oil along with a tang of exotic spices she'd never smelled before. The scents swirled through her mind seeming both familiar and alien, warm and inviting yet mysterious as though born from another time and age so close that she could reach out and touch it. As she exhaled, Kathrine found herself entranced by the concept, dreaming of what might lie in this world her mind was quickly fashioning around her; the sights, the people, the clothing. . . The sounds and-

"It's nothing like my _home_ but it's cozy! So get those clothes off and we'll start with fixing your face."

And then it all came crashing down. She frowned. "What's wrong with my face? _Or_ my backside for that matter!"

The tiefling walked over to the left side of the room leaning just slightly at the waist before pulling a curtain to the side revealing a discrete cubbyhole packed with towels and some kind of puffy sponge looking object that rasped lightly against his hand as he grabbed it. He turned to her expectantly making a shooing motion with the sponge. "Go on! Take it off."

Kat's frown deepened as she looked down at the floor her coat was dripping on. "Uh. . . N- No, I mean I appreciate-"

"Oh, I get it! You think because of the horns and charming good looks I'm going to seduce your butterfly and let her drink deeply from the nectar of my flowering loins in some burlesque show of sensuality that only Sharess Herself would be able to understand?" He tilt his head slightly towards her at an angle suggestively waggling his eyebrows.

She was just about to speak when he cut her off.

"Well get over yourself, honey! You're _much_ too fat for my considerably better taste and I'd never sully my bed with-"

"I was going to say. . ." She kept her tone carefully neutral despite the burning desire to wretch at the very _idea_ of his 'flowering loins'. It almost worked. She coughed to the side. "Ech- excuse me. . . uh. . ." She cleared her throat. "I was going to say, I don't have anywhere to put my wet clothes."

"Oh." He straightened up. "Oh yes, right over here. . ." He turned slightly and Kat watched him silently as he opened a curtain that _should_ have lead right back out to the hallway but instead opened in on a beautifully tiled room full of deep green marble squares wrapped around semi-circular stall with a grate in the center of it. Built into the ceiling a set of finger holes had been punched into a cylindrical extrusion made of gold looking metal while on the side of the tiny room a shelf had been carved into the solid looking stone holding various bottles of familiar bathing oils and some thick milky looking substance she didn't recognize. Just to the right side was a cupboard big enough to shove clothes in.

Kat stepped in subconsciously so as not to keep dripping on her host's carpet, suddenly aware of her manners, she looked to him and opened her mouth to introduce herself. His eyes were searching her form with a slight linger when her got to her hips with slight disdain, just before she could speak he held up a finger and then tapped it against his chin. She tried again and again he held up his finger. _Oh for cripes sake._

"Here." He shoved the towel and sponge to her. The sponge had a strange bristle to it, not completely uncomfortable but definitely coarse enough to be felt even through her glove. "I think I have something that can help you." His eyes flicked up to meet her and he flashed a smile, shooing her in. "Go on, get a shower, let me do my work."

"B-"

"Ah, ah! You smell like an Abyssal steel works. Bathe first, then talk."

Before she could even breathe the curtain closed in front of her face. She sighed taking another look around the room trying to figure out how such a place, even considering what she'd seen already, could exist in such a confined area. It had to have been magic but how could it work if she couldn't touch Chauntea's essence? Was it only divine blessings that couldn't be brought into being? Was there something more attached to this plane? She shivered involuntarily as the concept ran away from her, bringing back images of some layer of the hells and driving them into the deepest reaches of her subconscious.

"I don't hear water running!" The man's voice raked over her nerves dragging her from her thoughts, perhaps for the best.

Kat slipped her pack off and held it close to her chest with a soft sigh as she leaned against the wall. Every part of her was cold and ached. She'd _killed_ a man, she'd lost the girl, she'd probably failed all those people who'd still wind up venerating Auril to their dying day and-

"Water, dear! Speak it!"

She sighed. _Fine, fine. Cripes. _"Water?"

The golden cylinder sputtered softly and began pouring a fine stream of water that almost immediately began steaming up the room. Kathrine stood there for a moment simply _feeling_ the warmth as it wrapped around her casting off the chill of her wet clothes with an invitation, however uncertain. She pushed off the wall and accepted it.

She spent the next fifteen minutes or more trying to figure out exactly what magic or command word might turn the sponge thing into a comb to scrape the oil off her body and silently cursing the concepts of planar magic until she finally gave in and started brushing it down her arms where it left her flesh reddened faintly. She noticed subtle flecks of pale material in the oil as it hit the floor but it didn't immediately register until she started to brush at the under side of her arms that it was actually her flesh and not the sponge that was coming off in the oil.

Everyone on the ship could probably hear her scream of surprise.

Was it a trick by the tiefling? Some kind of inner planes creature that stripped the flesh from its victims slowly? She couldn't channel Chauntea's gifts and he _knew_ it! He'd tricked her! She threw the sponge creature at the opposite wall, launching into the only cantrips she had available to her. She may've been doomed but she could at least keep it from happening to someone else, maybe. By the time she was finished with the incantation the tiefling had poked his head in around the curtain just in time to see the creature explode in a puff of electricity and tattered fibers.

"What the hells're you doing?" He shrieked.

"That's it, huh?" Kat whirled to face the man already running the permutations through her mind- she'd need to get to cover if he attacked her with magic and the room offered very little of it. She might be able to use the slight curve of the room to her advantage if she was quick enough. "That. . .thing! That flesh eating thing you gave me! Some trick!"

"Flesh-. . ." The man blinked looking genuinely perplexed. "Are you _mad_? That was an exfoliating block! It wasn't _eating_ your flesh you silly twit, it was shedding the dead skin!" His gaze lowered to her feet as he wrinkled his delicate nose. "By the looks of it it was doing a hell of a job too."

"It was-. . . What? Really?" She stole a glance at the remnants of the sponge creature. Was he lying to her? That was possible but why would he do that? She looked at him again suddenly feeling very stupid. "Uh. . ."

"Uh huh. . ."

Her face burned red hot. The words wouldn't quite come. "Oops."

He rolled his eyes and stuck his hand into the room carrying another sponge which he threw towards her. She caught it by reflex. "And you wonder why your race is so easily tempted into pacts." He snorted and pulled back into the room leaving her once more to her shower.

The words cut through her like a knife with flashes of memories; Jezebel staring her down telling her about the pact she'd made for power. She hadn't _known_ what'd happened until her master was in a pool of blood and she had everything she could've imagined. . . There was no repentance, no self loathing or self-pitty. Just a cold statement of fact that Kathrine could hear even alone a million planes away. She hugged herself against the wall only vaguely aware of the sponge in her left hand. _I killed an __angel__, Kathrine. How're you going to help me?_ A strangled sob broke her silence as Kat threw the damned sponge across the room.

/xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx\

Kathrine emerged from the shower some time later wrapped in the fluffy towel that felt like it should have been in the Pride of Arabel instead of a ship's hold somewhere between Somewhere and Everywhere else. Her skin, much like her body now ached and her hair was splayed over her shoulders with the burned ends draping down against her reddened flesh reminding her of the mistakes she'd already made on this trip.

The tiefling was just finishing setting some candle saucers down on either side of a small portable mirror that was nestled on a waist high night stand with a small round chair in front of it. A small assortment of brushes and combs lined the space just in front of the mirror next to a pair of golden shears and a small jar with a kind of spray pump mechanism Kat had seen some place or another. It was a perfume bottle. Was he serious? He looked over to her with the faintest of frowns and tsked. "So, if you're done destroying-"

"I'm really sorry about that. . ." Kat licked her lips hugging the towel a little tighter. "I uh. . ." She trailed off into a shrug looking away. "It's been a long day."

He squinted just a little and his frown deepened. "You look like a fire elemental, where's-" before he could finish he stepped right up to her and sniffed the air. She backed away at the sudden closeness of the odd man but he took her shoulders in his hands and pulled her forward. "You didn't put any lotion on, did you?" He let out a sigh, depositing her on the chair. "Wait here. . ."

The chair itself widened out slightly to accommodate her, unfolding near the back to support the curve of her lower back and the backs of her thighs almost inviting her to lean back like a couch. She had to fight the urge. Even in this surrounding, it didn't pay to be too relaxed she decided.

The tiefling stepped out of the shower room with his nose wrinkled slightly and a bottle of the milky stuff in his left hand. He waved a delicate hand in front of his face muttering, looking to her he sighed with evident pity in his eyes. "You were supposed to put this on afterwards, it helps the skin grow healthy."

"Oh. . ." Kat frowned slightly. "Uh. . . Sorry?"

He sighed again though for some reason his voice took on a quality of a patient teacher teaching someone who was mentally damaged in some way. It stung, ever so slightly. "Lemmie guess. You're used to. . . ugh. . . public bath houses, right?"

"Uh. . . Not really, no. We had streams and stuff."

Some small color returned to his face as he emptied some of the viscous fluid into his hand and gave her the bottle. "Do your legs, I'm not going anywhere _near_ that." He rubbed the liquid into his hands and without asking permission started to work it into her cheeks and forehead with expert precision which didn't falter in the least when she tried to pull away. The lotion was warm even to the touch and soothing to the fading itching on her face but still she tried to resist, throwing her arm up to bat him away.

"Gah~ I can do it, sheesh!"

"I'm sure, but I don't have all decade. Now shush." The tiefling slipped his hands down to her neck and then shoulders, working the warm lotion in all in one movement. He turned the chair towards the mirror and slicked her arms down in the warm lotion, coming up to her upper back where he stopped and wiped his hands unceremoniously on the back of her towel. "See? Easy, easy."

Kat rolled her eyes and poured some of the lotion into her own hands following his example to work the substance into the flesh of her legs never daring to push the towel up. She glanced up at him in the mirror and exhaled. "Okay, good enough. . . Uh. . ." Her voice trailed off as she caught her reflection. Her normally wispy bangs had been all but singed off leaving ragged waves of hair running in a semi-diagonal line across the front of her skull where most of her face had been directly in the sphere's blast. Along with this most of the right side of her hair had been scorched to just a few inches long where it'd been double that length or even longer. Kat frowned looking this way and that. "No wonder it hurt so bad. . ." She whispered.

"I bet it did! I can't imagine you got that playing around in the water, now, so what's the story?" The tiefling reached over her shoulder and took up the shears along with one of the larger brushes. When Kat frowned he patted her shoulder. "Can't have you walking around looking like a ragamuffin, the captain'd have my horns!"

"The captain? The sphinx?"

"Hmph!" His hands slipped into her hair teasing it out before he brushed it back with a gentle touch that almost felt ethereal against the frayed ends in Kat's body that told her she needed to be trying to get _away_ from this creature. Tieflings were born of infernal blood, everyone knew that. But despite this she didn't _get_ that sense that he was a danger. A bit aloof, sure, but hardly a blood sucking monster. "Over my dead body."

"Um. . . If I may say so? It kind of looked like it might've gone that way earlier." She licked her lips considering her words a little more carefully. "I mean, I'm sure you could handle him and everything but I wanted to try and help. . ."

"I was wondering why you flopped down like a dead fish!" He chuckled a rather high pitched laugh as he held up her hair like a dead squirrel. _Clip clip_ went the shears. "So what was it, huh? Lemmie guess, you tried to brew tea with a fireball."

"Uh. . . Scintilating Sphere- erm. . ." She looked down to the side when she heard the shears cut again. "It's a substitution of fire for electricity but the same basic concept."

"Ah ha, ah ha. That's an interesting use of evocation for someone so young." _Clip clip_.

Kat frowned. "How much are you taking off exactly?"

"Just enough to make you look good~ The captain likes women to be _feminine _. I'm betting you do too, hm?"

Kathrine's cheeks burned a little. It wasn't that she was in any way ashamed of her attractions, afterall it wasn't like she could _help_ it if she wanted to but still, having someone directly call her on it felt odd. Like the time she almost walked in on her parents making love. "That apparent, huh?" She swallowed.

He chirped a soft laugh. "You haven't made a pass at me once! Says one'f two things- either you're of unusual proclivities or you're married. And I don't see a ring so. . ."

"You called me fat, I hardly see how that says I have 'unusual proclivities'." She crossed her arms over her breasts frowning at her reflection as he clipped a little more off to the side. He glanced at her and checked either side of her skull before going back to clipping seared ends off here and there. "And then there's the whole butterfly thing. . ." A shiver ran up her spine. "I mean, really?"

"It happens! You'd not be surprised the number of women- or men!- I've turned away, girlie, don't think you can resist forever."

"I think you've got the wrong idea. . ." _Clip clip._

"Ah, yes. But so do you!" The man turned a brush over and began teasing her hair out with that same gentility. "As far as Nyx goes, he's not the captain. I'll let you two make introductions but I'll suggest you bring your best truths or your _very_ best lies unless you plan to swim home, mmhmm?" He continued teasing her hair out a bit more until it was a mass of errant fluff that made her look like she'd been on the receiving end of a lightning bolt. Much to her surprise all the burned ends had been either cut off or masked by the random swirl patterns.

Kathrine swallowed. "Yeah, I uh. . . I don't lie well, so I guess I'll have to be upfront, huh?" She shifted uneasily. "Uh. . . What'm I supposed to say? How do I address him?"

"Her. Captain'll work. Mistress if you've been really naughty, I suspect! Or if you're _really_ naughty, friend." He chuckled again. "I think you'll be just fine but I've been wrong before!"

A soft sigh escaped her lips as she watched him brush her hair downward giving her a very slight overhang near her right eye where the burns had been the worst. Layering her hair to favor the right side of her skull, he weaved very subtle lines into the layers to give it definition before teasing some from the back into a pony tail that hung loose between her shoulder blades. It danced the line between practical and rather opulent in some strange way. Kathrine watched him work for a few moments before she licked her lips. "That uh. . .That looks nice, mister uh. . . ?"

"Vaius." He said offhandedly, pulling his hands back a little to inspect his work. In short minute he'd turned a mangled disaster into a respectable, even kind of pretty display of hair that framed her face with two longer strands of hair draped down on either side and a very slight curve that hid one of the singe spots near the crown of her skull.

"Nice to meet you mister Vaius-"

"No mister." A single brush stroke straightened out some loose hair on the left side of her head and he smirked to himself nodding approval with that same far away look she got when she was satisfied with her own work. "Good, good."

"Yeah that looks really nice." Kathrine turned her head slightly managing a half smile. "Thanks."

"Oh don't thank me yet! The best is yet to come!" Vaius casually tossed the brush and scissors on to the table, whirling to the left in a flurry of blue silk and black hair. The soft rustling of cloth soon gave way to his humming a soft melody as he turned to her and held up a pale brown vest that came to a v near the bottom, flowing into a mid length skirt cut generously- perhaps too generously- around the hips. He smoothed out the velveteen fabric once and held it over his chest looking to her. "I saw your pants and just _had_ to pick this out for you. I even found the matching boots, you lucky thing."

"Uh. . ." Kathrine swallowed as she looked at the dress, trying to imagine how she'd ever close it over her chest with no visible buttons or ties. "That's neat but um. . . Kind of 'airy', you know?"

Vaius looked down at it. "Oh don't be silly. I've got just the thing." In another flash he turned the dress around showing off a pure white blouse with a low collar and fluffy mid elbow sleeves. "Now then! Get dressed, you've got work to do!"


	10. Volume 3: All Hands on Deck: Chapter 4

The Missionary

Volume 3 Chapter 4

:AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Hey hey, hope you're enjoying this story. I apologize for the lack of updates, real life financial stresses have been cropping up stealing my time.

PLEASE, if you enjoy the story, send me an email! Send me a PM! If you think I could improve, write a review! It takes nothing but a few seconds and I -do- read each and every one of them!

I'd like to thank Alonsis and Syrus both, deeply, for believing in me and keeping me motivated even if you don't know how. :) Seriously, you guys rock. And a huge thank you to all those readers out there who've been reading this, whether you comment or not. I'm just happy to know someone out there thinks something I do is worth investing -their- time in too.

:END AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Kathrine stood a few feet away from the hatch hugging her arms over her chest and casting a nervous glance back as a soft breeze prickled the goosebumps across her thighs making her shiver involuntarily. The soft velveteen fabric brushed her skin barely managing to keep her comfortable much less warm and despite the fact that no one paid attention to her, she could imagine their eyes on her mostly bare legs and the subtle pushup effect the blouse had on her chest. They'd be trying to figure out how it worked, maybe, or if what was displayed was as good looking without the blouse. Meanwhile the slight heel on her boots forced her to stand in a slightly awkward manner that forced her calves to take most of her weight to keep her balanced yet in so doing, it made her legs look longer. It was absurd to be so conflicted but when she'd seen it in the mirror she couldn't deny it, some part of her liked how she looked. Of course every _other_ part of her was screaming that she was probably in danger and needed to stop being so damned friendly.

She rubbed at the billowing sleeves of her blouse which stopped just at her elbows, making her way across the ships deck toward the rear cabin. A couple dozen paces away gaunt men with brown spotted skin and yellowish eyes were training atop grass mats that took up most of the deck's mid section. Punches, kicks, throws and disabling moves were all practiced with an ethereal kind of grace that not even she could have mastered in a life time, yet something in their natural grace spoke of millennium of hardship that made such training not only necessary but wholly prized. It was a strange ballet of violence she couldn't quite get her mind around.

Her gaze never left the training men as she walked towards them keenly aware of how little it would take one of them to overpower her. She was ready to jump ship if necessary. . . Wasn't she? She glanced towards the endless plane of black water while still keeping the men at the edge of her vision. She wasn't.

The gaunt brown, skinned men didn't even spare her a glance when she approached. Throwing punches or tumbling with the blows, they were too wrapped up in their training to give her the slightest bit of attention which was both a relief and a concern. Not so much that she was potentially in danger but the innumerable possibilities of what it was that they were training to fight. What was it that could inspire such a need to fight?

Kathrine continued past them with a slight turn to ensure she wasn't being followed. For several steps she didn't turn her gaze from the men, acutely aware of the wind running its fingers through her hair and the scents of the bath oils she'd used. In her state of hyper awareness she was prepared for most anything despite being without her equipment or even spell reagents, she could still run away or out think any potential adversary.

What she _couldn't_ do, however was split her attention to what was going on in front of her and behind. She felt something warm and muscular in front of her a moment before she tripped over it. In a flurry of fabric and feathers she tumbled forward, planted her hands in front of herself to keep from falling and tucked into a roll by reflex, spinning around to see the noble face of the sphinx right in front of her staring at her like she was a few arrows short of a full quiver. She forced a sheepish smile suddenly more aware of her vulnerability at his eye level. "Oops~ So- sorry."

The human face of the massive creature mixed irritation with a subtle kind of amusement Kathrine could barely make out, looking at her with sharp brown eyes for a moment before he looked her over. He turned his weight slowly with only the light plodding of his massive paws announcing the move at all until he rolled his shoulders back arching his wings and resettling them more comfortably against his long body. She couldn't quite bring herself to stand up in his presence, instead sitting on her knees with her legs clenched tight, prepared to duck away if necessary. He smiled a little exposing a long pair of canines, speaking in a gentle but deep growl full of baritone almost beyond any human's ability to reproduce. "I am lighter than what I'm made of and more of me is hidden than seen. . ." His gaze lingered on her face with that same carnal smile for nearly a full beat as it began to dawn on her just what he was saying.

She opened her mouth about to ask for clarification but stopped herself. It was a simple enough riddle, air, but she was more curious why he would ask her unprompted. Unless he planned to eat her if she wasn't quick enough. No, that wasn't right. They didn't usually do that but you could quickly loose their respect and interest if you weren't sharp enough. Kathrine swallowed and sucked in a breath through clenched teeth. He'd been ready to ask her a riddle before allowing her on board but she'd preempted him with one of her own that felt somehow appropriate to her situation; neck deep in water she'd asked him something fairly simple with an answer relating to salt or ice. Kat blinked. Ice. He was answering her riddle _with_ one. Her lips subconsciously pulled up in a smirk.

_Clever. Alright. . . _She licked her lips. "You seized me and yet I fled." She began even as her voice cracked. Mere inches away from those sharp canines she could imagine her reflection in their sheen and while she could smell the faint scent of honeyed wine on his breath she couldn't bring herself to believe that'd been all he had to eat or drink. Why else would he refer to her as morsel? "You s- see me flee and cannot hold me tight. Yet you press me into your hand and then your fist is empty. . ." That was all there was too it, right? She quickly ran it over in her mind. It sounded right.

"Hmph." The sphinx glanced up to the side in thought and slowly started to turn away from her as he contemplated the answer. With a slight nod of approval she was dismissed and he plodded on towards the front of the ship with his tail swishing behind him lazily.

Kat sat there for a moment longer not sure whether she should relax or be more concerned. If he _wasn't_ the ship's captain, who had it within their power to either enslave or otherwise coax a sphinx to be part of their crew? Was she some kind of towering intellect that could subdue him or maybe someone so strong she'd earned his respect by defending someone he cared about. Was she herself a sphinx? She bit into her lower lip as images ran through her mind at lightning speed; a brain in a jar was supplanted by a sphinx draped in glittering gold with an eye patch which further gave way to a troll woman with a whip she'd use to beat her crew into submission. Maybe that was it. . .

Slowly she stood up to the aching protest of her legs, dusting her knees off she looked to the cabin and drew in a breath. It stood about as tall as a house, shaped with a slight rearward cant with intricate silver etchings that looked semi-draconic in nature; protections versus scrying and elements so far as Kat could tell. There were others but the essence was lost in the obscure nature of the runes which had been used leaving Kat only to guess at the true intent of them. The single distinguishing feature was an ornate door in the center framed with flowing scroll work that was rounded with recessed trim and further inlaid by brilliantly polished silver which shone softly in the perpetually dusky sky.

With no visible knob, Kat didn't know what to make of it as she approached but a couple feet away the door opened inward slowly on a rather simple room with plenty of plush red carpeting under a pair of knee high tables decorated in simple golden cloths that draped down the corners and ended in blue tassles. Atop one table was an empty bowl filled with what looked like mead or some other drink and the other an open book in a language she couldn't even begin to make sense of. On the right side of the cabin a pair of drums had been stuffed into the corner near a rather long body pillow which wrapped around the corner to form a kind of couch not meant for any human body. Several small sketches had been carved into the wood walls with a very sharp, very fine instrument in breathtaking detail. Some depicted simple things like a flower and others more complex subjects such as a pair of boots cocked out from an upturned perspective as though the viewer was looking down. All the sketches seemed to have been of rather mundane items but they were perfect in almost every way almost as though they existed in their own tiny place and time.

Kathrine glanced around again, finding a small hallway to the right side opposite the 'couch' and a cleverly hidden door almost directly infront of her. She took a breath, held her hand up ready to knock. But before she could, it creaked softly and slowly swept inward into another simple room no bigger than a storage closet and decorated almost as spartan. There was a simple door infront of her decorated by a swirling pattering of gold dust that made concentric circles in the soft wood, perpetually feeding from the top to the bottom and glittering down the cutouts only to cycle back up to the top eventually. She glanced around the room, whispering. "Um. . . Hello?"

There was no reply.

She took a step into the antechamber, towards the door and moved to knock again. As before, the new door swept inward to another room slightly larger than her room at the World Serpent. Perhaps fifteen paces on a side, the room was proportioned oddly considering the size of the cabin itself it technically couldn't have existed but as her gaze swept over the casual opulence of the room, the concept gradually began to fade away as a trivial notion in light of everything she'd already seen. The room was draped in rich navy blue silk stitched with gold fillagree and lace that veiled tiny windows looking out on the endless sea of darkness. Flickering candlelight played over the buttresses which had been decorated with webs of glittering crystals that reflected the light back into the room lighting it to feel like a summer's day. Smells of pork and freshly steamed vegetables filled her nose along with a subtle hint of exotic spice from some forgotten corner of an unknown plane. It was heady and musky but wholly enticing. Kathrine closed her eyes taking the smell in.

"Hello there!" A woman's voice snapped her out of her moment. Kat's eyes shot open to see a large dining table not two feet from her piled high with pristine plates topped with thick pork stakes and vegetables; potatoes, beets, carrots. . . Her mouth began watering. The table hadn't been there a moment before, or had it? She didn't recall it being there. Slowly she looked up a little, trying to ignore the growling in her empty stomach.

Her feet were propped up on the edge of the table, slender boots with high heels, gold toe caps and supple leather that stopped just above her well shaped, decidedly human, knees. Her thighs were thick with muscle, powerful in ways that blurred the line between strength training and running and barely contained in dark brown silk with a lace seam up each side that allowed fleeting glimpses of her sun kissed skin. Around her slender waist, a half-tied sash held her dark blue coat closed, just barely concealing a ruffled white blouse that only served to accentuate her full bust. The collar of her coat hung open at either side of her neck proudly displaying the finer curves of her throat and the subtle feminine lines that lead up it to her smooth sculpted jaw. Her lips were perhaps her most striking feature, perfectly formed, turned upward slightly in a smirk and pouted in a coy display that didn't belie the strength of her intense crystal blue eyes. Those same eyes that were looking Kathrine over with every bit as much curiosity and, she was sure, thinly veiled interest. The woman's hands were intertwined behind her head in a lazy manner that also served to keep her black hair from draping down her shoulders.

They looked at one another for a moment but Kathrine could _feel_ the lingering gaze of the woman still roaming her form even despite her eyes not leaving Kat's own. It was almost as though this woman could unravel anything she saw and break it down to its essence with no more effort than Kat used to brush her hair. It was unnerving and frightening. At some level it was exhilarating but she was too tired and hungry to really get beyond the recognition of it. Kathrine swallowed, forcing her voice out around the lump in her throat. "H- Hello. . . Um. . . I was here to see the captain, I guess?"

"Ah, of course, of course!" The woman nodded lightly as she smiled. "I've heard she can be a bit welcoming if the company's right and isn't terribly easy to anger, infact some might call her pleasant to deal with!"

Kathrine had to smile at that just a little.

"But then I've also heard she's a raving psychopath who's only out for riches and glory." The woman's bright eyes rolled in a theatrical display of irritation before she smiled a bit more warmly. "So now I have to wonder which is true and how I should introduce you, hm?" Her gloved hands slipped from behind her head dragging long strands of her hair to drape down her shoulders behind her ears. She steepled her fingers in front of her resting her elbows on armrests of her chair and gave Kathrine another, much more thorough look over.

Kat fidgeted under the woman's gaze, hugging her elbows over her chest as she bit into her lower lip. "Um. . . Kat- Kathrine. Kathrine Stoneriver, a priestess in service to the Earthmother, Chauntea." She swallowed trying to subconsciously pull herself in to herself to hide from the woman's scrutiny. It wasn't exactly a leer but something about it just _felt_ strange and set the fine hairs on her neck on end. Maybe it wasn't even intentional but with nowhere to hide, those intense eyes carried something much more than Kathrine had ever seen in another person in her life. It was confidence, an air of superiority that was _deserved_ but not expressed.

This woman was powerful in ways Kat couldn't comprehend, yet she was somehow as normal as she was. Her skin bristled with goosebumps suddenly as they locked gazes again and the woman offered a warm smile.

"Well, miss Stoneriver, it's a pleasure to make your acquaintance and have the blessings of the Grain Goddess aboard my humble little ship." She didn't sit quite upright but a subtle shift in her posture made her seem somehow more attentive if that were possible. Her supple pink tinted lips pulled up in a slight grin, pursing just enough to pout forward as though they could somehow discern whatever secrets Kat was hiding that the woman's eyes hadn't seen. For some reason all Kat could think of was fine wine glazing the ridge of them with a light sheen. . . And what that might taste like.

Kat swallowed and looked away. "I- I'd really like to thank you for coming to my rescue, uh. . . C- Captain?"

"Bree." She clasped her hands together infront of her chin still watching Kathrine. "There's no need for formalities here, miss Stoneriver, consider yourself my _personal_ guest."

_Uh, maybe I'm reading too far into this. _Kat stammered softly. _Focus. Come on. __Focus__. _She hauled herself upright and let her hands come back to her sides, subconsciously smoothing at the pleats in her dress. With a voice she didn't quite recognize as her own she lowered her head in supplication. "I'm very grateful for your hospitality and if there's any-" _Loaded statement. Too loaded. Try something else. _"-cleaning or cooking or medical requirements you or your crew require, I'd be more than pleased to-"

"Miss Stoneriver." Bree's voice chipped away at Kat's wavering resolve. It was patient and warm, a melody of tones young laced with the wisdom of age and a subtle kind of force that could demand the attention of everyone in the room with nothing more than a whisper. Kat's gaze shifted to the woman's lips once more as they formed that slightly pouted smile. "You are a _guest_ here. I ask only that you don't try to incite a mutiny with your infinite charms, I have enough problems keeping boredom at bay without wondering whether or not my crew is going to suddenly break into song at the mere sound of your voice." There was a moment of silence. "Miss Stoneriver?"

"Huh- uh. . . Y- Yeah. Sorry. Um. . ."

"What color are my eyes."

Kathrine looked to her but her eyes had closed. She swallowed. "I'm sorry?"

"My eyes. What color are they?"

"Uh. . . B- Blueish."

"Ah, good, you do pay attention." Bree shifted forward a bit more and slipped her feet off the table. With a motion of her hand she indicated the chair across from her at the opposite end of the table. A large plate of ham and vegetables sat still steaming where Kat was _pretty_ sure there'd been only empty space a few moments before. Of course, it was entirely possible she wasn't paying attention. "Please! You look famished, dear. I'll not have you suffer when I can be a good host." The woman smiled brightly.

"Um. . . M- May I ask you something?"

"Of course, miss Stoneriver."

"Why'd you help me? How'd you _find_ me?"

Bree casually pulled her gloves off and set them to the side before looking up at Kat. "And why am I offering to feed you, why did my doctor do such a _beautiful_ job with your hair and clothe you?" She smiled warmly. "I can appreciate a little mystery in life miss Stoneriver, I surely hope you can as well! Let's say that we had a mutual friend who's no longer with us and leave it at that." She motioned to the table again, saying nothing. It was as much an invitation as a command, Kat was sure.

Kathrine licked her lips eyeing the food warily. Did she trust this woman enough to take that leap of faith that there wasn't some greater plan at work, or was she really exposing herself to much more danger by being on this ship in the first place? She looked to the smiling woman, considering her words carefully. "Mutual friend, huh? I've had a lot of friends, miss Bree and I think they'd have mentioned someone as um. . . As _special_ as you."

_Special. That sounds about right, doesn't it?_

The woman leaned back in her chair with a catch all smile that didn't fade in the least as she looked at Kat. Her head tilted slightly to the right and it was at that moment Kathrine really noticed how her sharp features had been smoothed by time along with the very faint wrinkles at the edge of her eyes. It was a sign of wisdom and advancing age but she didn't _look_ much older than Kat in many respects. At a wild guess, the woman was probably around thirty something. But her body looked every bit as firm as Kat's own, probably more so. Which brought many more questions to Kat's mind. Who was this woman that could command a sphinx and fly a floating ship across the planes? Was she an angel or a human of mixed blood? Whatever she was, _special_ was beginning to feel like a poor adjective.

Bree chuckled a soft musical sound. "No, I suppose not. I would be surprised if you exchanged more than a few words with this individual but I assure you, miss Stoneriver, I have nothing but the _best_ of intentions for you. After what you've been through, don't _you_ think you deserve a break from it all?" Before Kat could even raise a breath of objection the woman held up a slender finger to silence her. "Speaking in the broadest of terms, miss Stoneriver. I know you didn't wind up here of your own accord and I'll not send you back out there if I can avoid it."

It was just a subtle thing; a twinge in the back of her mind so fleeting Kat wasn't sure if it was real or not. Something was distinctly _off_ about everything in front of her, it wasn't necessarily malevolent but it definitely wasn't _right_. Experimentally she took a step forward and touched the table. The wood was an ultra fine grain that may as well have been polished marble. She eyed the table and the candelabras at either end, watching the light dance at the end of the wick she couldn't help but reach out for the flame. It was warm. What was she not seeing here?

The woman's bright eyes tracked her every movement with a look of patient amusement like her mentor had used when she was teaching Kathrine something new. Just before Kat reached out to touch the candle itself, Bree spoke in that same soft purr of a voice she'd used for her invitation. "I surely hope you're not going to do this to everything, miss Stoneriver, you'll catch a sickness sooner rather than later. Many things come from across the planes, not all of them seen by the naked eye, hm? Until you get used to the way things work on my ship, it might be better if you leave well enough alone."

Kat glanced up at her but didn't so much as acknowledge her when she touched the candle. To no surprise it was smooth and waxy. It was normal. Just like the table or the fire. Still that nagging suspicion itched at the back of her mind telling her she was missing something rather obvious. All the while Bree's gaze never left her face but her smile didn't fade in the least either, even when Kat ran her hand over the top of the flame to test the warmth again.

"I see, you have a thing for fire, is that it?"

"Uh. . . N- No."

"I should hope not! I don't think your patron would be too pleased with you. . . But with people, I can never quite tell what drives them~" She chuckled lightly. "Well, aside from petty things like gold and riches or those silly ambitions we pursue, hm?"

Kathrine stood somber for just a moment. _Silly ambitions._ Was trying to redeem someone's soul a 'silly ambition'? She shouldn't have let it get to her, she knew better. But who in the _nine hells_ was this woman to judge anyone? The superiority in her voice said she thought she was in control and in a position to do exactly that. The hairs on Kat's neck bristled as she forced a tight smile of her own. "Context not withstanding, one's 'silly ambitions' can be another's personal mission, huh?"

"Of course! And, gods bless them, those who take on personal missions out of thought for someone other then themselves should be given every opportunity to make their dreams a reality. In a perfect world. But too often we squander our lives looking for that one piece of shiny treasure _worth_ looking for. What's the sense in that if you only have a hand full of days to live, hm?" She flashed another perfect smile. "I don't see many flies concerning themselves with gold and trinkets and they lead perfectly fulfilling lives."

"If I can say so, it sounds like someone has a guilty conscience."

Bree turned her head down just slightly to look up at Kathrine under the thin veil of her bangs, watching her for a moment as her smile turned into a little smirk. Those pale eyes flashed with good natured challenge and a subtle warmth that crept into her voice at its own pace. "In my years I've seen many things, good priestess, I've watched men fall to their knees in sight of otherwise _boring_ magical trinkets and sell their very souls for a taste of power they could hold for only a few years."

Despite herself Kat flinched.

The woman leaned back in her chair giving Kat another once over with that same air of superiority. Just as Kat opened her mouth to speak, Bree shook her head softly. "My apologies, miss Stoneriver, I didn't mean to upset you. I can imagine in your life you've seen many similar cases. . . Perhaps some even close to your heart, hm? It's unfortunate, but with our collective faith in the gods, we can stand firm in resolve that they'll guide us rather than our material desires."

"Uh. . ."

"You disagree?"

"No, I. . . I'm just trying to understand what brought this up."

Bree shrugged lightly. "I don't have many human visitors, dear. Conversation here involves word games and riddles, rumors about sexually ambiguous demon kin and their taste in fashion and, _or _cooking. None of the particulars I shall mention here for fear of making your already glowing skin a shade lighter." She smiled warmly.

Kat fidgeted slightly and stole a glance at the chair next to her. Her legs were beginning to ache from all the time she'd spent on her feet but she couldn't give in just yet, not with that itch at the back of her mind. Something wasn't _right_ here, but what? Abruptly she looked to the woman across from her. "So that um. . . Kind of makes me wonder. . . Uh. . . are _you_ human?"

"What do you think, dear?"

"I learned long ago not to assume things, miss Bree." She shot back without hesitation.

Bree smirked and pressed her thumbs together lightly, glancing towards the ceiling. "If I were less secure in myself, miss Stoneriver, I'd probably be offended by that." Her bright eyes flashed with a tiny bit of annoyance but her voice was casually neutral. "I'm about as human as you are, my dear. Perhaps more so in the larger scheme of things." She looked to Kat. "But I still see doubt in your eyes. Would you like to see me bleed, dear or shall we move on to more interesting topics?"

Kathrine swallowed. "Like what?"

"Oh, you know. . . Where you came from, why you became a priest." The woman's gaze settled on Kat's face again as though she were the only person in the multiverse. For just a moment, she may well have been as nothing but naked curiosity swam in the woman's blue eyes. It was unnerving at first, humbling and more than a little disarming to think that someone who clearly had so much power at her finger tips would _honestly _care anything about Kat. It was in that moment of sincere interest that Kathrine found perhaps the only thing she could bargain with. Information.

"Well, um. . ." Kat pursed her lips, glanced at the chair and sighed before she slid into it. The crushed velvet was comfortable and warm against the backs of her legs, inviting her to sit back . She didn't hesitate long. She closed her eyes for just a moment and sighed out her body's aches over the last how many ever hours. It'd been constant _go go go_ with no chance to really catch her breath but now she was being allowed exactly what she'd forgotten even existed. When she opened her eyes she saw Bree smiling warmly, seemingly content with herself. Kat smiled a little uneasily in return. "I um. . . I became a priest because I'd always revered my Lady and I saw an opportunity to serve Her more in a tribe, to bring Her name to a group of lizard folk and kobolds. . . They were peaceful people trying to find a home to call their own, you see."

Bree simply listened, smiling all the while with a look of contented interest. "I see, and you didn't have any problems integrating with them? How'd you get past their old gods?"

"Well-" Kat looked at the food in front of her, trying to silence the gnawing ache in the pit of her stomach. "Um. . . M- May I?"

"_Please._" The woman's tone almost sounded pleading. "I don't want to think the effort was wasted on a guest who chose to go hungry instead. Would you like some wine, dear?"

"Uh. . ." She did. She _knew_ she did. It wouldn't hurt. One glass. . . Just one this time. "N-. . ." Just. One. "NothanksI'mfine." The words ran together faster than she could force them out.

"Are you certain? It's no trouble."

"No, really. . . I. . ." Kathrine looked to her, licking her lips. "I. . . we have a history."

"Ah, say no more!" The woman smiled softly, reassuringly. There was no judgment in those eyes, just a soft warmth that helped to soothe Kat's nerves. "Perhaps something else?"

"Water would be great?"

"Certainly! But do go on, dear. How'd you subvert Semuanya?"

Kathrine blinked at the mention of the Lizardfolk's deity. "Y- You're familiar?"

"You might say I have an interest in obscure lore, yes." She smiled as she stood up, idly smoothing out her coat. Kat, despite her wariness found herself looking over the woman.

She stood a little taller than Kathrine, her curves were flowing; a tight core and a gentle hourglass shape with long legs. When she turned Kat got a glimpse of her in profile; it was beautiful. The heels forced her back to arch just slightly, further accentuating her distinct mix of femininity and commanding presence that made Kat almost subconsciously loose herself. She wanted to be held- lied to- told it was all going to be okay. And she wanted someone like Bree to do it. She was just like Jezebel. . . She could command Kat with the subtlest of looks yet _unlike_ Jezebel, she wasn't going to. Was she?

"Miss Stoneriver. . ."

"H- Huh?" Kat blinked. "Sorry?"

"Do go on?" Bree reached up into a small net hanging from the rafters and pulled out a green bottle along with a pair of glasses. Her long flowing hair was draped down between her shoulders stopping just at her mid back. A flash of a thought splintered Kat's concentration with an image of the flowing mane draped down either side of the woman's face, how it would accent her lips- giving nothing away in those beautiful eyes. She'd be a hair's breadth away and. . .

Bree looked at her.

Kat looked away.

A subtle smirk tugged at Bree's lips as she approached the table, setting the glasses down and pulling the cork on the bottle. She filled both glasses and picked up one before placing it on the left side of the plate and then on the right. She swapped it back and forth in front of Kat a couple of times, playfully smiling now when Kat looked up at her before depositing it on the right side of her plate. The woman stood in front of her looking down at her with a patient, almost motherly smile. She leaned forward and with a very gentle movement, she brushed Kat's bangs out of her face, sliding them behind her ears. The simple touch of her lavender scented hands set Kat's heart fluttering in her chest. "It's fine, dear. . ." The woman whispered a sultry coo.

"_Sorry_." Kat closed her eyes and sighed.

"You are a terribly _interesting_ girl, my good priestess. . ."

When Kat opened her eyes the woman was sitting across from her at the end of the table sipping from her own glass of water with a light smile. Her gaze roamed Kathrine's face unabashedly once more before she leaned back and propped her feet up on the table again. "Um. . ." She swallowed, still looking for her voice. "I'm. . . Sorry, it's. . . It's ah-"

"No need to apologize, dear. Unlike our good doctor, I have no ambiguity about me." She smiled. "Quite frankly, I think the concept is hilarious. Only small minds such as ours could be so narrow to shun one who expressed themselves in a different way than most." She rolled her eyes theatrically for effect. "Now! Eat up and let's hear more of your story, dear." With that, Kat was sure, the matter was dropped.

"Uh. . . I-" She took a deep breath and tore off a piece of the ham steak with her fingers. "Well, it wasn't exactly a successful 'conversion' in the classical sense, but I learned a lot about their way of life and their deity. I'd like to think they learned to appreciate the Earthmother too but I can't say for sure. I um. . . I know _I_ learned to appreciate a new deity during my time. But uh. . ." She shrugged lamely, unsure of how to continue.

"Semuanya? You don't exactly strike me as a wanton pragmatist.

"No, no. . . Um. . . His name is Meriadar." Kat licked her lips.

Bree tilted her head just slightly, a coy little smile pulling at her pouted lips. "This is new to me, who, _pray tell_ is Meriadar, dear?"

"He's a deity of peace and developing peaceful relations between neighbors. He's a humanoid deity. . . So um, a lot of peace seeking monstrous races pray to Him as do others who just want to find peace within adverse conditions."

The woman's smile lit up the room for just a fraction of a second, leaving Kat to wonder if she was already getting more comfortable than she should have been. But so what? "_That_ is an ambition worth pursuing. So you were born to this tribe?"

"No, no. . . I was born in a village called Eveningstar. Um, it's in-"

"Cormyr, obviously." She smiled.

"That's right, um. . . About a day's travel or so west of Arabel."

"Ah yes, I've been there! At least in a book." Her laugh was melodic and somewhat infectious. Despite her best attempt to the contrary, Kat _wanted_ to laugh along with her. Her shoulders relaxed slowly as she watched the woman's movements. So graceful and patient, as though the world around her didn't matter- no, it was the world around _them_. She was taking Kathrine into it because she was interested in her and for however long that lasted, she'd be allowed to be part of it. In those warm glances, Kat felt nothing but welcomed. "Yet you're out cohabitating with natural enemies of your mother state. I can't imagine that went well."

"I. . . I don't-" _I don't want to talk about it. _She looked to Bree. _I-. . . Don't- _"It ended in the village- the monstrous one getting razed. But they were later given a small bit of asylum in the city walls so it wasn't. . . a _total _loss."

The woman nodded sympathetically with a soft smile. "Then by all means, sweet priestess, praises to your guiding principals and benevolent spirit."

"I. . . Really didn't have much to do with that-"

"I disagree! Consider the alternative. They'd have been crushed outright without being given so much as a chance to know your goddess. All in all, I'd say you've done your patron's work, dear. Farms or not, planting a seed of an idea sometimes bears fruit over the _long_ term, hm?"

Kathrine ate in silence for a long moment. She had run out of things to say, really. Or ways to justify her failures.

The woman watched her all the while, smiling an odd little smile that spoke not only of years experience but of the patience brought with it. Kat couldn't help but wonder just how old she was or how many children she might've had. All the different possible life stories that this woman had seen and what brought her to this point now. Was she maybe thinking the same thing?

Around a mouth full of ham, Kat whispered. "That doesn't change the way things ended."

"Nothing ever does, miss Stoneriver. But! If you dwell on the past forever, what're you truly gaining? Surely not new insights for what's to come. No, no, you're merely reliving what cannot be changed. And if I may say so, you're much too beautiful to have worry lines gained in such a manner."

Kat scoffed despite herself. "Beautiful like a bulls rear end. Even that tiefling says so."

"Yes but he also says _I'm_ an old crone who'd do better reading nursery rhymes to slaadi children than what I do. But as _you_ have noticed, I am quite the opposite." She winked as Kat felt heat warm her cheeks. "No, dear, if anyone's opinion of your beauty should be measured, it should be your own and only your own. Tell me, do you _really_ feel that way or are you just not feeling particularly. . . Self indulgent?"

"Um. . ."

"Be honest."

Kat took a big bite of her ham, chewing over her possible responses. The one ready on her tongue didn't quite feel right. She'd been told plenty of times she was attractive but what did _she_ feel? She looked at the table thoughtfully.

"Oh dear, this isn't a question of which is right or wrong. Though I may have a hand in trying to convince you of _a_ right answer. . ." Her smile was genuine.

"Um. . . I don't-. . .really know." She shrugged and took another bite. "I'm pretty amazing but I don't know if 'beautiful' falls into that. At all."

"Amazing, hm? Alright, we'll start with that." Bree leaned back in her chair with a casual smile, watching as Kat finished her meal. She waited until the food and water were all gone before she spoke again. "Miss Stoneriver, I've a proposition for you. . . Where on our way to a business meeting but after that, I've no problem dropping you off wherever you please."

_But. . ._

The woman smiled softly. "I want you to enjoy yourself and consider what it is, exactly, that means the most to you. Maybe indulge _me_ once in a while with a story or something else now and then. Or you're welcome to leave whenever you like.

"S- Something else? Like. . . Like what?"

"Oh you know, the usual. Her smile didn't falter in the least as she withdrew her feet from the table. "If you can cook or sew, I'm sure your domestic skills would be helpful! I'm getting lazy in my age, dear, and an extra set of hands never hurts. Quite the opposite, usually."

Kat swallowed, nodding. "Um. . . Sure. I used to mend my brother's clothes all the time. Though I'm not a very good cook, I couldn't make anything that tasted nearly as good as that ham, for example." For some strange reason she felt the heat on her cheeks warm a degree. It wasn't like she had to impress this woman but it still _felt_ as though she should have been able to at least do the basic things she'd been taught to. "I uh. . . I can help, though?"

Bree smiled softly. "That'd be appreciated. Now! Let me show you to your quarters, dear. After a few hours' sleep I'll show you around and we'll speak of the future, how's that sound?"

"Um. . . I _really _don't mean to sound disingenuous but I'd like to have my equipment. . . And uh. . ." She trailed off looking at the table with a frown, lips pursed slightly. "I sincerely apriciate everything you've done for me, miss Bree but I'm really. . . kind of out of my depth here."

"Oh I find that hard to believe. In no time at all you've made a good impression on just about everyone who _matters_ here, you've certainly piqued _my_ curiosity." She smiled. "That, my good woman, is definitely a rare thing. So! Until you choose to forsake the invitation, my home is yours to do with as you see fit. My food is yours, my drink? You're welcome to whatever suits your fancy. We even have water from the river Styx if you felt particularly adventurous. Vaius is seeing to your belongings, they'll be dried out and you'll have them when you wake up." Kat opened her mouth to object but Bree was already rising out of her chair. "You have my word, miss Stoneriver, despite his heritage and. . . proclivities. . . he's a man of respect and honor. You'll never convince Nyx of it, but that's the price you pay, hm?"

"Um. . ."

The woman smiled lightly. "You say that a lot, dear. Do I make you nervous?"

After a moment Kat forced herself to nod. "A bit, yeah."

"Well! That'll never do. . . Come, come!" In a simple movement she gestured Kat forward, turning on her heel away from the table towards the back of the cabin. She stopped at a wall panel that didn't look like anything out of the ordinary and pressed on a small section of it near the upper right corner. As she did the door gracefully rotated inwards on a silent track revealing an expansive room framed in glittering silver polished to a mirror's shine. The frame itself was a kind of half dome shape that would have rounded out the end of the ship and between the large slats were mirror panels roughly half Kathrine's height that reflected other portions of the room in its entirety. The mirror on mirror effect made dozens of endlessly cascading reflections throughout the room making it seem both absolutely cavernous and giving Kat a case of vertigo as she tried to make sense of the construction. The only thing keeping her grounded was the thick plush carpet laid out across the floor and the larger than normal four post bed in the middle of the room a dozen or so feet away.

Kat had to close her eyes for a moment when Bree closed the door behind them, completing the illusion of a kind of oversized geode with endless hallways branching off in every direction. When she opened them she was already more accustomed to the room, able to tell up from down and even get a rough feel for the _actual_ size of the semi-circular room. It was eccentric, perhaps in the extreme, but it somehow fit the woman's personality. Perhaps vein without being intentionally arrogant.

Situated to the right of the entrance was a simple marble pedestal with a black velvet pillow nestling a red crystal about the size of Kat's finger. At a glance it may have been a ruby or something similar but she couldn't be sure. Just beyond the pedestal her reflection looked back at her with glassy, curious but uncertain eyes through a thin layer of dust that coated the entire room. Though there was no smell of must or telltale allusions to just how long it'd been since anyone used the room, it looked to have been a year or more.

Bree stepped towards the bed, placing her hands on her hips with a soft 'hmph' before she patted the thick comforter down sending a soft plume of dust particles into the air. Kathrine looked up, noticing the hole in the ceiling above the bed that looked out on the open sky. She couldn't help but smile to herself. It definitely suited what she knew of the woman.

After a couple of moments Bree turned to look at Kat with a warm smile. Her bright blue eyes shifted upwards for a second or two and she smirked, nodding to herself. "I think this'll do nicely, don't you? Make it as homely as you like. . . My home is your home."

"Y- You sure?"

"I am!"

"Well. . . um. . . thanks."

"I have some things to do, but if you need anything just give a knock on the door, alright? I'll be around." She stepped around Kathrine but Kat took her hand before she could slip past. The woman looked to her, eyes flashing bright with annoyance, or perhaps warmth though she didn't make any movement to cease her forward momentum. "Hm?"

"I um. . . I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable. . . I uh. . . I didn't-" Bree put a finger to her lips with a soft smile.

"In that dress, you can get away with just about _anything_ with me." She pulled her hand free gently and winked. In the next moment she was at the wall panel pressing the door back outward into the dining area. "Sleep well miss Stoneriver, we'll talk more when you're awake."

"O- Okay. . ." She took a deep breath as the door closed, glancing around. The only thing reflected in the mirrors was her and the bed. She stared at her reflection from both sides; scrawny arms, wide hips, thick legs. . . she wasn't 'fat' but she needed to loose a few pounds, maybe. . . She made a face at her reflection. What did she know anyway.

As she slipped off the high heel boots and crawled into bed she began to wonder if she had made some huge mistake in doing all this. The alternative was drowning, granted, but what did she truly know about this woman? Maybe it was her time in Arabel that'd left her somewhat skeptical of anyone's presumably good intentions but perhaps she was just growing wise to the world. Perhaps. . .

She never remembered falling asleep.

Some time later a soft spoken voice tickled her ear. Riding the fine line between being barely aware and gone to the world she heard it. The voice was familiar yet new. A woman. . . But who? She _should_ have known. "When we get there, the girl will get dropped off. I don't want her getting hurt." After a few seconds. "Besides, this isn't her fight. We've come too far now to worry about collateral damage. Find a safe place for her and drop her off, I'll take care of the relic."


	11. Volume 3: All Hands on Deck: Chapter 5

Chapter 5: Welcome to the Neburan

Author's Note:

Soooo, it's been a little while since I updated. I'm sorry. Don't hate, motivate. Send any crits, ideas or anything you like to my PM box, leave a review! I love this story, don't get me wrong, and we will get it done but I'd like to know if people likewise enjoy it. Hearing people say so seems to help me get things done faster so if you like it, please let me know!

I'll try and get some more done this week, all real life obligations withstanding.

She dreamt of fire. It was almost always fire.

Not the tender moments they shared when no one was around nor the sunrises they'd watched despite Jezebel wanting to do something 'more important'. It wasn't even the chase across the Arabel countryside that eventually ended with _her_ giving up to face her trial. It was _always_ fire. She was standing on the pyre. Those eyes looking at her with firm resolution; resigned to her fate. Always so damned pragmatic. . . She mouthed the last words she'd ever speak. The only time Kat could remember her ever saying them. "I love you."

_I love you_.

What a cruel joke.

In any possible combination of fates, none burned so much as that. The words, a dying prayer for forgiveness from someone who'd given up the fight when a hand full of people were prepared to fight, some to _die_ for her. Oh, but she showed the resolve of her adopted family, didn't she? She'd lived the Stoneriver family values with her courage, with her love and above all with a strength she didn't _truly_ possess. _She_ had known it was over, _she_ had known there was no way to save her soul except for the ritual pyre.

But so what?

So. What?

Who was _she_ to give up everything Kat had fought so hard to protect? Who was _she_ to decide when _they_ needed to end? Why did _she_ get to save herself and not take Kat with her?

Kathrine was slumped down on her knees in front of the ashes where her _life _had been, the rain pattered against the cobbles tapping out a steady sob that none but she could hear. The ash that ran through the cracks was already spreading; dissolving all remnants that Jezebel Stoneriver had ever existed. In the side long glances of the audience there was no pity, no tears, no concern. To them she was just a dead witch. Another threat removed. And life went on. Life always went on.

But when she came to face judgment for her lack of faith-

_No._

_No, please._

Mercifully she woke up under a bright blue sky laden with large clouds. Through the glass square above the bed she could see them sail by at a lazy pace, almost drawing her into an illusion that she was back home staring at the sky from the field on a summer morning. She looked around the room for a moment frowning slightly as she lost her cohesion and orientation. It wasn't her inn room, where was she? She looked at her reflection in the endless hall of mirrors. Her hair was an absolute mess flowing this way and that, making her look like she'd gotten a little too close to one of her electric spheres. Her eyes carried dark bags under them and her mind felt thick and groggy. Had she _actually_ slept at all? Maybe she'd over slept.

It came back quickly; the flood of memories, the sphinx, the captain. Some kind of relic? She swung out of bed expecting to find her normal sleeping shorts and shirt but the velveteen dress she'd been given threw her off a little. She felt exposed and chilled even though the cabin was comfortable, acutely aware of the smallest of flaws of her body. Hips too big, thighs too large, the little blemishes on her right calf where her brother had 'accidently' pushed her into a bramble bush when she got on his nerves when she was younger. She sighed and grabbed the heeled boots, slipping them on and forcing herself by sheer force of will to pace around the room a couple of times to _get her blood flowing. The mirrors watched her every movement reflecting their disapproval from the edge of her vision._

She refused to look at any of them as she ran her hands through her hair and bound it into a pony tail. She was sure there were parts of it that were burned and maybe she didn't look her absolute best but so what? She didn't even have her own clothes so how could she really be held accountable for that? Kat opened her eyes glancing around again. It didn't look _too_ bad. A couple of short patches near the crown of her skull but it'd grow back and it blended in well her platinum blonde anyway so it didn't stick out too much.

Running her hand along the wall near the pillar, Kat found the hidden push button that released the lock and opened the door to find the dining room had redressed almost entirely in bright reds with the table in the center covered in maps of places Kat couldn't identify. Though some of the runes on them looked familiar, she couldn't place the words nor the syntax but it was clear they identified regions of an expansive field or ocean of some sort with several large islands dotting the otherwise featureless plane. Another map depicted the same open area with dozens of small circles made of charcoal. All of them seemed to indicate positions that overlooked another area a few hundred feet away that was _ringed with slightly larger circle. It almost looked like a tactical map._

Kathrine glanced to the front door and back to the map trying to memorize it incase it might be useful at some point in the future. Afterwards she quickly looked over the other maps out of curiosity though she couldn't find anything more useful, all of them seemed to be related in some way and every one of them indicated the same thing. This was some kind of ambush plan.

What the hell had she gotten herself into?

She turned towards the door leaving the maps in their exact locations. It was rude of her to dig around in someone else's business but it was simple curiosity that'd lead her to look, nothing malicious at all. That was forgivable in any climate, wasn't it? She took just one more peek.

After committing the maps to memory she headed for the front door and opened it to the lingering fragrance of sweet wine that immediately set her mouth to watering as she stepped into the smaller cabin where the sphinx made his home. As with last night, the large bowl was nearly empty though the scent was strong enough to fill the entire cabin nearly masking the undercurrent of something more exotic, a spice of some sort that was musky and heady in ways she couldn't quite put together. It smelled of a desert wind with sage carried on the breeze. Perhaps it was something from his home that he wanted to keep close at hand as a reminder of what he'd left behind. Her mind reeled with images of what his life might've been like, what choices he'd made that would've brought him to work with or for the human woman.

_Bree. Her name's Bree._ Kat rubbed her eyes to wipe away the last vestiges of sleep from her mind and opened the door on to the main deck. The first thing she saw was Bree standing infront of the door to the left just slightly while beyond her on the deck the brown skinned, yellow eyed men were performing flowing movements in some kind of meditative trance. A hand would move forward slowly as they'd brace their feet behind them in preparation for a strike or to counter some move made by another. They wouldn't actually touch one another but their movements, so precise and controlled would've likely killed their 'opponent' in one move, Kat was sure. Beyond them and all around the ship a bright blue sky lazily brushed the sides of the ship with voluminous clouds that parted for them as they moved forward in the endless expanse of nothingness.

Bree looked back over her shoulder just slightly, offering a warm smile with those lightly pink tinted lips. "Good morning, miss Stoneriver. Tea?"

"Uh? Uh. . ." Kat stood protected by the wall beside the door with her head poked out. "Um. . . C- Can I have my clothes?"

"Already?" A deep rumbling voice said near Bree. She shrugged noncommittally. "That didn't take long. . ."

"Hey!" Kat found herself saying before she could keep it down. "I didn't mean it like _that_. I just. . ."

"Hm?" Bree smiled back towards her _almost_ turning her body but her movements were so measured and controlled Kat had to wonder if she too was some kind of martial artist. "Oh don't be silly, you look positively _ravishing_, dear." Without another word she held a steaming cup of tea out to coax her out of her hiding place.

"I bet that's not all that was-"

"Nyx. . ." She cast a glance towards him. The massive sphinx turned his head up to look at her for a moment just as Kathrine slipped around the door and on to the deck, wobbling slightly on the stupid high heel boots. "She's a guest, treat her like such, would you?"

"It's in good fun. Not my fault you people can't take a joke." He looked to Kat offering a slight nod and a smile that seemed mostly forced but still carried a subtle warmth. "It passes before the sun and makes no shadow, doesn't it?"

"Yeah, the air does that." Without missing a beat she looked to the side of the ship uneasily._ Air. It's Air. Right? _"Where _are_ we?"

"The plane of Air, dear."

"Hmph." Nyx stood on all fours and casually plodded off towards the front of the deck. "Always a joy kill."

"The term is killjoy." Bree said after the creature as she gave Kat the cup of tea before clasping her delicate hands behind her back. With her head held high and eyes scrutinizing she looked every part the sea captain Kathrine had first thought her to be, yet something seemed slightly off about her this morning. She was tense, maybe even a little scared. "We'll be dropping you off after this meeting and you're free to do what you please-"

"Captain?"

"Hm?"

Kat sniffed the tea before she slunk up to stand beside the woman, whispering softly. "Everything okay?"

"Perfectly fine, miss Stoneriver." She flashed a smile. "Come! I'd like to show you around." Without waiting for Kat to object she started forward likely expecting, maybe even _knowing_ Kat would follow her. Of course she was right. "This is the _Neburan _and as you might've imagined, it's a rather unusual ship in that we've only fifty aboard. Built in- relatively speaking- twelve hundred and two, the ship serves as both home and transport for those who're aboard. . ."

Kathrine sipped from the cup wincing as the bitter liquid hit her tongue, assaulting her senses with the tang of pepper and something else she couldn't quite identify but it _smelled_ like daises. "You uh. . . you realize it's thirteen eighty one?"

"On the prime, yes! But we're not on the Prime are we?" She smiled again as they got near the front hatch. Nyx had taken up a perch near the prow of the ship, curling up into a lazy ball with one large paw over the other and his head resting upon them looking down at those on the deck. His gaze lingered on Kathrine's face for a moment when she glanced his way, smiling slightly, he closed his eyes and shrugged. It was a distinctly awkward gesture given the feline nature of most of his body but somehow it conveyed absolute indifference and amusement all the same.

"So. . . you're. . . um. . . one hundred and something?"

"Oh perish the thought! How old do I look, miss Stoneriver?"

"Um. . ." _I'm not answering that. _Though some part of her was already mulling it over despite herself.

Bree lead them down the hatch to a hallway shaped like a trident aiming back towards the rear of the vessel, unlike the room that the tiefling had brought them into last night, the dark hallway was trimmed with bright silver accents and etchings all the way into the middle of the ship where it opened up to a wide cabin that'd been lit by low hanging paper lamps. Rows of bunks occupied either side of the room but none of them had even been touched. Instead grass mats between the bunks looked fairly well used and frayed in some places. Kat stole a glance back as Bree lead them into the room.

"This is the crew quarters for those you saw on deck." She motioned around the room with a slightly amused expression, or perhaps it was irritation pulling those beautiful lips into a sardonic smile. "For as much as I try to provide for them, they spurn my every nicety. None the less, they're exceptional warriors and when it comes down to it, I can think of no one else I'd rather have aboard my ship to defend it."

Kathrine licked her lips glancing around as well before she looked to Bree with an uncertain smile all her own. "So they um. . . They fight for you when things go wrong?"

The woman chuckled a melodic sound that carried through the air and tickled Kat's ears with its innocent sincerity. "That implies things do go wrong, miss Stoneriver. No, our company is more. . . on a journey, you see. A pilgrimage, of sorts, to the Astral plane. But we've quite a ways to go yet so until then I fear they may be on board for at least another year, perhaps longer. . ." Her shoulders rose and fell as she lead them through the cabin to a small set of double doors set into the rear wall.

"You don't sound too happy about it, if I can say so?"

"You most certainly may!" Her hands pushed on the thumb latches on the handles in a quick sequence that Kat couldn't begin to keep up with, all the while the woman spoke as though the action was completely unconscious. "I deplore violence, you see, and their 'pilgrimage' is going to undoubtedly lead to exactly that. They call themselves _Gith-attala_, which unless I miss my guess-" The doors opened inwardly to reveal a small ante-chamber lined with pillows of shifting colors accented with beautiful golden cord and tassels of silver. The walls themselves were draped in wine colored cloth with a soft shimmer to it similar to the expensive silks Kat had seen on nobles in the Pride of Arabel. "-translates to 'cousin hunters' or some other silly shorthand way of saying 'let's kill everything that isn't like us.' But then, I'm sure you're familiar with the type, hm?"

Kat whispered to herself as they stepped into the chamber. "One's aberration is another's personal mission. . ." She tensed ever so slightly when the woman glanced back at her, relaxing only when a small smile parted her pink-tinted lips. "Sorry." She said in a normal tone. "I um. . . I ah. . ."

"Personal experience speaks volumes, hm?"

She swallowed and nodded, not trusting herself to speak.

"Fair enough, miss Stoneriver. I'd just rather they not use my vessel as a launching platform for their little crusade. I'm sure you can understand the issue."

"S- sure. . . But why can't you just leave them somewhere?"

Bree turned back for a moment looking to the door Kat had left open behind her. In another second the door closed and clicked softly as the lock re-engaged. When she looked to Kat there was something distinctly different in her eyes; gone was that jovial warmth and light hearted nature she presented at first, replaced by a seriousness that somehow still managed to seep through her playful tone. "I would love nothing more than to do so, miss Stoneriver, however sometimes fate deals strange cards, does it not?" In that moment the seriousness vanished in a flash of light that brought back the normal sky blue to her ethereally bright eyes. "I found them on the plane of Limbo. . . Nasty place, by the by, I don't recomend it for casual touring. They were kind enough to let us leave in peace- that is to say one piece- if we escorted them out to the Astral plane."

Kathrine watched the woman with renewed interest even as she turned away to run her hand along the wall in a circular pattern that had no obvious meaning. As she did so the shimmering fabric seemed to take on a gentle glow in the wake of her fingers creating little designs that began to meld together into concentric circles overrunning one another. Something wasn't quite right about this. Her logical mind whispered. If these people were inhabitants of a place like Limbo and they didn't just take Bree's ship, wouldn't it mean that either Bree had somehow lied herself out of one terrible situation and into another potentially terrible one or. . . or what?

"Miss Stoneriver?"

"Huh?" Bree was looking at her patiently with a gentle smile with the door half open. "Oh, sorry. . . um. . . lead on?" The woman opened the door all the way to reveal a long slightly arched hallway lined with dozens of doors with tiny windows made of glass. Each of the doors had been polished to a dull sheen to match the richly colored wood that made up the hall and while nothing immediately seemed out of place, something _felt_ extrodinary about the mundane hallway even before they stepped on the plush carpeting. Kat could feel the crackle of energy at the very fringes of her mind without even really being aware of it, the place had a magical 'hum' to it. She shivered involuntarily.

"Ah, you're an Arcansit?" Bree stepped into the hall with a faint smile. "Good to know."

"H- how'd you know?"

"Everyone who I've ever met that dabbles in the arcane has a similar reaction to the runes. Well! This is exciting, and mildly perplexing all at once." She glanced to Kat again with a new look in her eyes as she looked Kathrine over making her keenly aware of just how short the dress she was wearing really was. Kat fidgeted despite herself. "An arcanist and a priest. . . You're endlessly fascinating, my dear. I must admit."

"N- no more than yourself, ahm. . . Captain."

The woman stood there for a moment seeming to consider Kat in this new light. It wasn't terribly unheard of, unusual yes, but it'd just been the way things came together. From trying to follow her family's tradition of service to the Crown to becoming a priest for her patron, it was a simple story but one she'd never thought of it as anything more than just the turns of life. She was happier, by far, as a priest but she still had the years of training that were supposed to help her become a War Wizard before things went to hell. Bree's eyes searched over Kat as though she might unravel the story herself. Abruptly she smiled a warm grin and stepped in close.

Kat had to turn her head up just slightly to meet her gaze. Only inches apart she could smell the faint tint of exotic spice lingering on the woman's coat, her skin smelled of lavender and lotion; smooth as the silk fabric in the previous chamber; begging to be touched. Her eyes were intense, all consuming. Kat wanted to look away but she couldn't; there was only Bree in this moment and to her the world they shared in the space between them was all that really mattered. Her heart backed up into her throat when the woman inched forward, placing one delicate hand beside Kat's head. Kat shifted her weight back against the wall and held her breath. Where'd this come from? Was she ready? Was she interested? As if that was a question. . .

Why? _That_ was a question. Why was this woman-

Bree didn't stop to kiss her, she didn't kiss her at all. Instead she slipped her cheek against Kat's own, leaning in until her mouth was just an inch from Kat's ear. Her scent was intoxicating. "I have _such_ sights to show you, miss Stoneriver."

Kat whimpered softly. The sound ran away from her before she could quell it.

"Hmm?" The woman's cool breath tickled her ear again. She shivered.

"O- Okay. . ."

"Grand." Bree stepped back with a soft smile breaking all forms of closeness. "Right this way then!" The woman turned away leaving Kat slumped against the wall wondering what, exactly, she'd gotten herself into.


	12. Volume 3: All Hands on Deck: Chapter 6

Chapter 6

The woman's blue coat swept back in some unfelt wind that blew through the hallway. Although Kat couldn't _feel_ anything, she could sense the spark of magic grazing her mind as though something somewhere was making its presence known; a quiet invitation to both her and the black haired woman just a few feet in front of her. Kathrine watched the woman's back for a second still feeling keenly exposed in the velveteen dress and the stupid high heel boots. When Bree didn't stop or even slow down, Kat relaxed slightly and followed her.

Doors lined either side of the arched hallway punctuated with small glass block windows in their centers that never actually showed what was inside the rooms beyond. Despite Kat's attempts to peek into the rooms, the glass frosted magically as soon as she glanced towards the door but none the less she kept trying as they walked down the hall expecting that one of the rooms would reveal their contents to her while her logical mind told her she was probably being selfish and silly; she was, without a doubt, being disrespectful to her hosts.

Kat swallowed as her father's voice chided her in the back of her mind. "You don't go into someone's home and snoop about, it's not proper!" For some strange reason the comforting familiarity of that voice pulled her lips to a smile. She'd been looking for something at the time- her cat, it was the cat that'd snuck outside when they were asleep and she'd gone to the neighbor's house to look for it without asking permission. A phantom pain welled at her backside as she recalled the swatting she'd gotten after that.

Bree glanced back over her shoulder stealing a peek at Kat out of the corner of her pale blue eyes. Kat's smile faltered and faded when looked to the woman with an uneasy expression. It wasn't like she was intimidating necessarily- okay, maybe she was. She was something Kat couldn't predict or quite make sense of for that matter. She was as much an enigma as the Sphinx she employed. The difference, however, was apparent in her every move; this woman could wield power beyond measure if she really wanted to. Which would've meant Kat could've been in incredible danger. But she was friendly and warm and. . .

Beautiful.

She was staggeringly beautiful even in her own mind, Kat was betting.

"I do hope I haven't upset you." The woman said softly as they approached the end of the hall. She was veering off to a small door to the right, hand already reaching for the latch.

"N- No. . . Um. . ." Kat opened her mouth but the words just wouldn't quite come to her lips. How could she say what she really felt without it being construed as an insult? She forced a smile and shook her head. "N- No, Captain, not at all."

Bree didn't flinch in the slightest but Kat could feel the disbelief in her patient smile. "As you say, my good woman."

The woman popped the latch on the door and opened the door into a room easily the side of the bedroom Kat had slept in. The far wall across from the door had a slight curve to it that Kat guessed likely belonged to the hull of the ship which probably meant this room was bound to the physical laws of the ships' space. She glanced back into the hall, considering. Maybe the entire ship was, really, it was just really efficiently used space. Somehow that didn't seem to fit what she'd seen but it still felt good to have some kind of grounding in quantifiable laws and the rules of three dimensional space.

"Miss Stoneriver?"

"Oh, uh. . sorry." Kat looked forward again to see Bree standing in the middle of the otherwise empty room. "This is uh. . . relative or literal?"

"Hm?"

"The space it occupies, it's literal space isn't it." She touched the wall just to make sure it was solid. "I mean it's not a pocket plane or something?"

"Ah." A subtle smile turned her playfully pouted lips upward before she ran a hand through her tumbling mane of glossy raven locks. No sooner had her hand left her hair than a sheen of brilliant light swept through the entire room casting impossible shadows over the wood which drew objects into existence seemingly from nothing; plush furniture in a style Kathrine had never seen before filled the room; ornate tapestries depicting forests, mushrooms and hunts of alien creatures filled the empty space on the walls and in the center of the room a small well about knee height flickered into view burbling a little tiny geyser of water that somehow didn't break the mirrored surface. "You mean this?"

Kat blinked. "Y-. . . yeah." She touched the wall again, it was still solid. "Yeah, like that. That was. . ." Her gaze roamed the room quickly before she took her guess. "That was an illusion, huh?"

"Quite so!" The woman motioned her in; as much an invitation as a command, Kat figured. She obeyed.

No sooner did she close the door behind her than the perimeter of the wood flooring fell away into nothingness along with the walls leaving them in an endless expanse of emptiness. Kat jumped into the center of the room and grabbed for Bree, muffling a gasp of surprise with the woman's coat. She realized what she was doing a second too late but she didn't care; if anyone could keep her from getting hurt it'd be the captain of the ship. Maybe Bree'd planned it that way or maybe Kat was just getting comfortable with her, whatever the way in which they'd wound up in such a manner, Kat didn't really care when she felt the woman's arm come around her. Her warmth washed away the concerns she might fall and so she stole a glance around, then up to see Bree smiling at her with amusement in her eyes. "Oh. . .er. . ."

"It's fine." Bree let her go. "To answer your question, it occupies both figurative and litteral space. The whole vessel does." She smiled and clasped her hands behind her back. "What better way to hide one's eccentricities than by doing so in plain sight, hm?" She reached her hand up and motioned behind Kathrine.

Kat turned to look and felt her mouth open and close without her as though trying to form words without the breath to do so. Stacks and stacks of thick gold platters each the size of a dinner plate formed a forest of shimmering riches, each stack was easily taller than either of the women. Between the platters small mounds of gems and other crystalline formations had been carefully balanced on one end or another to ensure the entire stack didn't topple. She wasn't easily impressed by monetary wealth, even lesser so by what people _did_ with it but somehow the sight of so much gold all in one place was impossible to comprehend. She stood staring blankly for nearly a full minute before she managed to choke out "wow" from around the lump in her throat.

The longer she stared the more she began to take notice of the other features of the massive hallway; blue velvet sheets lined the left wall which had a slight curve to it like the room they were standing had. The long sheet of fabric was dotted with small rivets in the shape of mushrooms that kept the velvet secured to the hull of the ship- she imagined- at the end of the hall a mound of gold plates was strewn about with dozens upon dozens of weapons that seemed to have their own 'glow' that Kat could sense even from such a distance. On the right side of the hall, several doors lined the wall with small glass windows in the center of each one. If she focused long enough she could see the hallway outside where she'd been trying to look in.

She glanced at Bree warily. "I. . . probably don't. . . want to know where you got all this, do I?"

A fine brow arched just slightly as she looked at Kat. She wasn't expecting that. Kat smiled inwardly. "Probably not." Bree shrugged with casual indifference before she smiled. "Maybe this too is an illusion, hm?"

Kat shook her head without looking back to the room. "No because you'd not show this to me unless you expected me to be either really greedy or all overzealous or something about how you should give this back to the people it was likely taken from, huh?

The woman's brow perked again. Kat's inward smile became a real one. "My you're an interesting sort. . ." She shrugged and chuckled. "Guilty as charged, miss Stoneriver, very astute." Just before Kat could reply the woman pre-empted her. "Ah but you're not a paladin and you're a woman of simple means. . . Perhaps you, like I, enjoy a good mystery. Hm?"

Kat's smile faded slightly. "Like what?"

"You're looking at the obvious, my good woman. . . Think outside what you see." She motioned to the stacks of gold again but Kat didn't look. Instead she studied Bree's face for a moment, memorizing every feature, every line, every little nuance in her expression.

Abruptly she declared. "You killed a dragon for this. . . If I said something, I'd look the fool or the-"

"Close!" She grinned. "My, you _are_ a fun one. . . No, my dear, we didn't _kill_ her for it. Well, I didn't anyway." A small note of self satisfaction slipped into her voice. "But I like the way you think. . . Come! I've something you might like to see." Without waiting for Kat to speak again she turned towards the forest of gold and slipped between the stacks, casting a casual glance back and smiling. It was an odd smile, like someone knew a secret they wanted to see if someone else could figure out.

Kat's logical mind wanted her to, too. She crept behind the woman taking in the sights and smells of the gold; somehow it seemed to carry a lingering scent of some far up place. She stopped and took a moment to smell one of the plates. It smelled like mountain air. Kat reached up to touch one of them but just before she did her father's voice nagged at her not to touch. It didn't belong to her. She turned back to Bree to find her looking at Kat with a slightly perked brow. "Sorry. . ." Kat whispered. "I was just curious."

"Oh please, do feel free." She smiled warmly. "It's just coin, dear."

"I wasn't gonna. . . take anything." Kat shook her head. "So um. . . what is it uh. . ."

"Right this way!" The woman ducked behind a stack of plates. Kat took after her and turned the corner. She was gone.

"Hey-"

"Hm?" The voice came from everywhere.

"Where'd you go?"

"Oh, I'm right here."

Kat looked around for the source of the voice. "Okay, but where's here?"

"Where's anywhere, hm? It's all relative."

"Yeah but relativity and literal-"

"Has anyone ever told you. . ." Kathrine could feel a presence behind her even before she heard the whisper that tickled the back of her ear. "You have a terrible habit of over thinking things?"

She shivered. "Ye- yeah. . . Actually."

"Shame I won't be the first." Bree's lips brushed the crest of Kat's ear. "Ah well. . ."

Kat turned. "Are we still talking about the same thing?"

She was gone.

"No fair. . ."

"Life is seldom fair, miss Stoneriver."

"Isn't that right. . ." Kathrine closed her eyes for a moment and considered the layout of the room along with the forest of 'coins' as Bree had called them. There'd been no real rhyme or reason to their positioning which meant Bree really didn't care much for how they were set up just that they were. That'd probably make her somewhat chaotic in her methods but if she could be predicted, it'd be possible to preempt whatever joke the woman had planned for her. . . She could've been preparing to ambush her somewhere in the forest or waiting for her at the big mound of gold. That'd make the most sense, wouldn't it? Yes. Yes it would. Kat opened her eyes ready to set off.

Bree was standing there smiling softly with her lips pouted in a coy display of bordem. "You really do over think things."

"Uh. . . Hi."

Bree rolled her eyes and smiled. "Come along, then. Let me show you something. . ."

Kat stood there for a moment waiting for the woman to move somehow expecting that if she blinked she might vanish again. It was all she could do to keep from blinking.

"Something wrong? You're beginning to tear up."

"Uh. . . N- No. Just. . ." She sighed. "You're really. . . um. . ."

"I believe obtuse is the word you're looking for." The woman turned on her heel and started toward the mound of gold, the soft clatter of her boot heels hitting the wood echoed in the expansive room like a drum giving no doubt as to which way Bree was going.

Kat swallowed. _Yeah, that comes to mind. . ._ "I was thinking, um. . . 'special'. Special seems about right."

Bree glanced over her shoulder with a smile. "Quick on your feet, beautiful and a priestess of your faith. . . Oh, and an arcanist? Ah the flexibility of the human condition, hm?"

Kathrine glanced off to the side to avoid her gaze, mumbling a reply that she didn't quite feel. "Yeah, I'm pretty amazing. . ."

"And so humble!"

"Well. . . kindda. Sometimes. . . Occasionally?"

"Hey. . . Captain?"

"Yes, dear?"

They rounded the last stack of coins to a large open spot on the ground where the gold platters had been dumped carelessly and littered with weapons of various types. Though all of them were clearly magical, none of them seemed to have been used but carried runic inscriptions in languages Kat had never seen before. Off to the right was a small wooden pillar about waist high that held up a simple talisman the size of a man's fist, it was circular with intricate etchings coming from the outside inward into a spiral that- Kat was sure- almost kind of looked like the end of a rolled up scroll.

"You said we had a mutual friend. Was. . . this stuff his?"

"Why do you say that?" She looked at Kat with a slightly perked brow. Was that a smile growing on her lips?

"Because. . . This stuff smells like it came from a cold climate and. . . you said he was no longer with us, right?"

Her amusement only grew. "Oh my dear girl, I think you're reading far too deeply into this. No. None of this belonged to that. . . man. In all actuality, you might say he was a kind of gate keeper who'd outlived his usefulness. Better that he's gone."

Gatekeeper? To what?

_Of_ what?

The Aurilite priest she'd killed in the cold plane with the two suns hadn't been especially bright or powerful in terms of his power, she didn't think, but what was he doing that could've even remotely mattered to someone like Bree?

"You. . . were going to kill him?"

"Of course not, I'm many things but a murderer is not among them. Now! Take a look at this, I think you of all people can appreciate this. . ."

No, she wasn't going to kill him, she was going to wait until someone else did. For what, though?

"Kathrine." Bree's voice pulled her attention. "You're thinking again. Live in the moment for once. . . It'll do you some good." She smiled warmly as she motioned to the pedestal. "What do you make of this, dear?"

Kat looked at the amulet, studying the circles for a moment. The longer she watched them the more form they took almost as though trying to build a meaning in front of her eyes, though never once did the center icon shift from it's appearance. Unconsciously Kathrine leaned over a bit as the patterns began to swirl over the face of the medallion. She could sense something in it's presence but it was alien, supernatural in its power and so far beyond anything she'd ever experienced she had no way to quantify it.

Much like the woman who's gaze she could feel on her. Kat looked over to see Bree watching her with a little smile. Her gaze didn't stay on Kat's face for long, instead roaming over her as though it was completely natural for her to do so, almost like she thought she had some kind of claim to Kat's body. . . Kat cleared her throat and forced her voice despite the heat welling on her cheeks. "It's divine in nature, isn't it?"

"Mhm. . ." Bree's gaze lingered on Kat's bare legs for a moment even as she stood upright. "Quite the gem, no?"

"Yeah. . ." Her internal flags danced about in her mind warning her to be careful with what she might say next even with the creeping feeling of uneasiness that caused her skin to bristle with goosebumps. "It uh. . . It's mailable in some way to whoever's holding it, I think. . ." Loaded. That was too loaded. She swallowed and tried again. "The medallion, it's. . . It's something you can mold with your mind, isn't it?"

"Can't say that I know, miss Stoneriver." Finally her slid up to meet Kat's. She smiled softly, unashamedly despite Kathrine shifting her weight. As though she could somehow cover more of herself. "I was hoping you could tell me."

_Not with you looking at me like that. _She mused and sighed, stealing another glance at the medallion. Its power wasn't malicious perse but something about it struck her as intensely out of place; it was a kind of subtle calling from somewhere deep within _her_ that gave the object it's purpose and meaning. But how? Unless it was meant to make someone desire it while it leeched something from them, it'd have no business trying to draw her attention.

Abruptly an image in her mind flashed of a thousand different worlds each containing a smaller version of herself looking back up at the featureless sky. Another beat slipped by and she was standing next to a woman with brown hair, alabaster skin and blonde hair; Jezebel. The image was so pristine and palpable Kat could smell the woman's scent lingering in the air between them as a flood of memories washed over her from the surface of the planets that passed by with dizzying speed. Somewhere else Kat could feel her knees buckle- her cohesion slipping. She was falling even if her mind was still elsewhere.

And then something warm and powerful wrapped around her chest. A soft tug that pulled her mind back into her body- in a moment she became aware of her surroundings; slumped back against Bree's chest with an arm under her breasts that kept her from falling. The nagging pull of the other presence still tried to wrap around her but Bree was too strong and the more distance they got between them the more Kat could _feel _the presence being forced from around her as Bree pulled her back. She brought her other arm around Kat's stomach and pulled her on to her feet, holding her still she whispered into Kat's ear.

"I expected you to be better prepared. Terribly sorry. It has a tendency of reaching when people get too close to it. . . Tell me, miss Stoneriver, are your arcane abilities innate or learned?"

Kathrine righted herself as best she could, trying to blink away the last vestiges of the other presence but Bree's arms didn't let her go for which some part of her was thankful. Her mind hadn't been violated- or had it? Had she seen something from some part of her subconscious mind or was she being shown a desire that lingered closer to the surface? Was there really a difference in the end? Kat blinked again and looked up at the woman, whispering "L-. . . learned. What _is_ this thing?"

Bree smiled a perfect smile and rested her chin on Kat's shoulder looking at the object in front of them. "Isn't that the grand mystery of life, my good priestess? Seeking out the unknown?"

Kat's gaze followed as she brought her hand up to Bree's forearm taking comfort in the closeness and feeling of someone stronger than herself. What she'd seen didn't make much sense considered logically, but in the abstract it was-. . . Kat swallowed. "It shows you what you want most in life, doesn't it?"

Bree's soft, cool breath tickled her ear as she whispered. "Very good. But the question is. . . Why?"

Kat swallowed and stared at the medallion. "Yeah. . . Why?"


	13. Volume 3: All Hands on Deck: Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Just one drink. It wouldn't hurt anything, right?

Right?

Kathrine Stoneriver turned the bottle in her fingers as she stood on the main deck, half leaned over the rail watching the clouds drift past. She was exhausted and worn out but her body was too tightly wound to sleep. Her mind ran circles around itself trying to answer the questions posed by the medallion; where had it come from, what was its purpose? Why did Bree have it?

She knew she shouldn't have been snooping into someone else's business but she couldn't help it, it was her logical mind that wouldn't let the matter- or her body- rest. Such power in an inanimate object meant that it was probably a relic of some kind, the very relic she'd overheard Bree talking about. Or had that been a dream?

Kat eyed the bottle and sighed, pulling the stopper. It needed to go away for a while, that voice that demanded answers to all these questions. She just wanted to _rest_ for a while. Hadn't she earned it in light of everything? Why the hell not? She pulled the bottle to her lips.

Just before the wine hit her lips she heard the plodding thud click of massive paws with sharp claws. She glanced over her shoulder letting out a soft sigh as the large sphinx sauntered up to her side with his wings swept back. He offered a slight nod and in one smooth motion managed to be regal and humble at the same time, akin to some four legged knight. When he spoke his low baritone voice reverberated in Kat's chest. "You look cold."

"Just. . . tired, really." She glanced at the wine. A siren's song in a bottle. She knew better.

So what?

She went to take a drink and the Sphinx's paw nudged her calf. "What happened there?"

Kat flinched. "My brother threw me into a bramble when I was young. . . I uh. . . I annoyed him. A lot."

"Hmph." He looked up at her with deep eyes, considering her. Kathrine glanced away after a moment. "You've not been seduced yet?"

"Hey, uh. . . I really don't wish to sound rude but I don't see what it matters-"

"She has a way with humans." His feline shoulders rose slightly in a shrug. "Other races too. . . You seem like a nice girl, I don't want you to get the impression she's going to be a long term mate."

Kat blanched. "Mate?" She had to laugh at that. "No, no. . . Uh. . . Just. . . Not really my thing any more." Her tongue darted out to lick her lips and she stole a quick sip of the wine. It slid over her tongue like tangy velvet carrying a distinct spice of some kind of exotic fruit mixed into the wine. It wasn't quite sweet but it was definitely rich and satisfying. A bit more and she'd be able to sleep, she decided. It'd help. It always did. . . "Uhm. . . Thank you for the warning, though?"

"Two ships passing in the night. . . How unfortunate; the mind reels with questions that would bring someone so young to such an empty outlook. But it is not my business, I suppose. If I had to say, I'm inclined to think you've a broken heart."

Kathrine took another drink not trusting her voice.

"Silence says more than any words-"

"Mister Nyx? I don't. . ." She sighed. "I really don't wanna be rude but could we talk about something else?"

Without missing a beat the sphinx looked up at her. "If you break it, it does not stop working, if you touch it it may be snared, but if you lose it nothing will matter. I wonder, young one, do you know of what I speak?"

Kathrine looked at him for a moment. Already her mind was getting a little fuzzy and the words ran into one another as she tried to speak. "I don't think I've seen anything worth-. . . I was running, you see. That's the trick. The great deception that even I could fool myself into believing. Running away." Her gaze slowly drifted to the clouds over the ship.

"That came from her personal collection, I'm guessing."

"Uh huh."

"You've had enough, then."

"Eh. . . I shouldn't be drinking. Poor form, y'know? But so what? I deserve some rest too and. . ." She looked at the bottle. "Man this stuff is strong."

"Precisely why you should stop now before you get any deeper into the bottle."

"Uh huh. . . Hey, um. . . Mister Nyx? Can I ask you something?" She drew in a deep breath, curling her fingers around the stopper as she weighed her options. The flavor, full and satisfying, continued to swirl on her tongue even as the spicy heat it brought welled up in her eyes and across her face. "Why do you work for her?"

"It's a mutual agreement. . . I've all the time in the multiverse, where as you don't."

"What about her, though? She isn't going to live much longer than I am-. . . okay, this is really strong. . . Woo." Her equilibrium was caught slightly off as she tilted her head back to steal one final sip. She almost fell but managed to grab the rail before she would have. Once balanced she took another drink and rammed the stopper in, setting the bottle down. She sunk to a seat next to it and laid her head back against the railing. Closing her eyes to keep the ship from spinning she exhaled softly, trying to get her bearings in the conversation. "She's not much older than I am, is she?"

"Time is a relative concept. Enjoy your time with her, but don't expect her to be there when you're older. . . You'll be disappointed."

"Is that uh. . . personal experience talking?" Kathrine looked over trying to focus. She smiled warily, aiming for her best non threatening expression. "I mean. . . if I can ask."

He tilted his head slightly and barked out a snarl of a laugh. "If she had space for me in her own sense of self worth, I doubt it would be one I would want to occupy." He shrugged again. "We are. . . allies of convenience."

Something in his tone carried a familiar ache, one Kat had heard come from her own lips on several occasions yet she couldn't quite place it. Instead she tried to anchor herself as her vision swam even more. She closed her eyes and leaned back heavily against the rail. "That. . . I'm sorry."

Silence answered her.

She opened her eyes again to see him looking at her with an unreadable expression. Finally he jerked his head up slightly. "Let's get you to bed, young one. You need it more than you need another drink."

"I'm really not always this bad. . ."

"I'm sure."

Maybe he was, though. He had feelings for Bree and somehow in his mind he could bring her around to seeing what a good thing he could make for her- and why not? He was intelligent and handsome- insofar that she could appreciate masculine attractiveness- he was a good counter balance to her nature. He had. . . "Hope."

"Hope?"

"The answer to the riddle. . ." _And what you need._ Kat blinked. _What I need too?_

"Very good. Now go rest." He raised a paw and turned it over to offer her some stability.

Kat took it.

# # # #

She awoke with a start and grabbed her chest. Coated in sweat with a scream lingering somewhere in the back of her mind that echoed from some deep part of her soul only to die on her lips as she grabbed her face to hide her eyes from the searing light that'd wrenched them open. She was shaking violently amidst the velvet covers but couldn't figure out why.

Why was she cold?

Kat slowly opened her eyes to find the infinite hall of mirrors around her reflecting her tired, features in a soft gilded light that poured in from the skylight above her bed. Her dress had been drawn up around her waist and she was sitting upright though she couldn't recall sitting up, how she'd gotten back to her bed, her dream or anything prior to the image of Jezebel the relic had showed her and despite her best efforts there was only a large chunk of empty space where she thought the memories _should_ have been.

Her hands slid down her face to cup her cheeks as she stared at her reflection in the mirror opposite the bed. She looked like hell. Had she slept at all? She let her hands fall into her lap as her eyes became more acclimated to the brighter light and stole a weary glance around the empty room at her reflection. Hair splayed out in every direction, her white blouse was rumpled and messy hanging from her body and the left side of the velvitine vest portion of her dress hung over her bicep barely holding on to her at all.

It took a conscious effort of will to tidy her appearance up, at first she found it easier to simply lay back and try to go back to sleep but the cool chill of drying sweat that clung to the sheets kept her from falling back asleep. Instead she forced herself up and headed for the exit, stopping just long enough to glance at the pillar with the ruby on it near the door. The gem had to have been worth a small fortune yet as Kat had seen, this woman didn't treat monetary value with much of any reverence. Still, why this particular gem in this particular place?

Over thinking. She was doing it again. . .

Kat pushed the door open to see Bree sitting across from Nyx with a table full of food between them largely untouched. They were staring at each other and judging from the way the massive sphinx's wings had been swept back and his tail was swishing, Kat could imagine something extremely unpleasant was taking place. Bree's gaze never left Nyx's slitted eyes, though her expression was neutral and unsmiling she still projected a subtle air of amusement at something Kat wasn't privvy to. By contrast Nyx's claws were sunk into the wood a tiny bit and his pupils had contracted into thin lines looking every part as feline as his powerful body which by now had coiled so tight it might've exploded into action at any second.

Neither one of them acknowledged her so she remained silent, unsure of exactly what it was she should do. They didn't look hostile but if it came down to it, Kat knew she'd have absolutely no chance to help the human woman against such a powerful creature. She _wanted_ to diffuse the situation but she didn't have any clue where to even begin.

"And I'm not going to suggest you're incapable." Bree said patiently as though she were speaking to someone with a mental deficiency. "You're the best-"

"Save your posturing. Your guest has arrived." Nyx's claws slowly unclenched from the wood with a soft _click_ as he drew his paws back one at a time to sit in the large chair opposite the captain. He cast a glance to her and inclined her head, his deep voice took on a slightly lighter tone while the color in his humanoid face went from a shade of red to its normal hues. He let out a short huff and flicked his gaze towards Bree. "I believe the captain had something she wished to discuss with you. . ."

"Uh. . ." Kat licked her lips when the woman's pale eyes settled on her. Her smile was friendly but decidedly tense unlike the sphinx, she couldn't let things drop as quickly, apparently. Kathrine smiled warily. "S- Sure, what can I do for you?"

"Firstly? I'd appreciate it if you'd ask before indulging in your self-destructive hobbies." Her smile warmed a bit and her tone became more jovial in ways Kat couldn't quite comprehend. It was disarming and that worried Kat. "We really could have used your expertise miss Stoneriver."

"Uh. . . S- Sorry." She rubbed the back of her neck feeling the heat warm on her cheeks. "I. . . kind of-"

"It's forgotten, my good priestess. Forthwith; we're nearly to our meeting place where we can get rid of a certain piece of cargo and get on with our. . ." Her gaze briefly flitted to Nyx. He simply stared at her letting out a slight sigh. "existence. Now, then! I require from you a small favor, consider it payment for passage on my ship and we'll call this little incident a wash, hm?"

_Incident? What 'incident?' _Kat'd found the wine near the food storage, she'd figured it might've been a communal drink and had every intention of replacing it as she could but. . . "Um. . . What. . . incident?"

"You don't remember?" Bree started to say but Nyx cut her off.

"I think it best we move on to-"

"No, really, what happened?"

"Well!" Bree clasped her hands over her stomach lightly looking at Kathrine with a neutral smile. "For starters, you nearly set my navigator's hair on fire." She nodded towards Nyx. "Though I must say, you're quite a juggler. . . Then you were trying to proselytize our 'guests' with riveting speeches about The Wall and how they'd go there if they didn't believe in Chauntea." When Kat opened her mouth Bree held up a finger. "That was before you tried to plant an herb garden on the poop deck. I assure you, miss Stoneriver, despite the name, there's not much fertilizer to be had there. . ."

Nyx snorted a soft chuckle and looked away for a moment. Bree glanced at him then back to Kat with a patient smile.

She couldn't help but cover her mouth, unsure of where to even begin- barely, she managed to choke out a strangled. "I'm so sorry-"

Nyx hopped down off the chair. "I thought it was funny."

"Yes but you also thought the idea of a flea circus was going to be the next big trend."

"I was half right!"

Bree sighed theatrically. "Nyx, you were _carrying_ the fleas. We couldn't get them out of here for a fortnight."

He snorted derisively and his tail swished.

Kat couldn't help but laugh but she clamped down on it the second Bree looked to her. "I'm really sorry, Captain. . . I. . ."

"I've many questions for you, dear, not the least of which is who is this poor Jezebel woman, but we've little time. We're coming up to our rondeaux point and we're sorely lacking in preparation. Would you be so kind as to lend a hand? We'll discuss how you can make it up to me after we've dropped off our cargo-" Before she finished she casually motioned to a foot locker near the door frame. "You'll find your affects all cleaned and mended, everything should be there but if something is missing please don't hesitate to let me know, hm?"

"Oh-" _Thank the gods. _"Thank you, Captain."

"Not a problem! Nyx will be handling pre-combat preparations, just. . . do whatever he says." She motioned dismissively.

"Er-. . . combat?"

"Think of it as. . . preemptive pirating. Minus the pirating part. . . of course." She smiled blithely.

Kathrine glanced between the two of them with a frown. "I'm not going to help you rob someone, Captain. . ."

The woman's smile didn't fade in the least. "I'm not asking you to, dear. . . But do keep in mind, it's a long way home from there."


	14. Volume 3: All Hands on Deck: Chapter 8

Chapter 8

"Long way home. . ." Kat muttered at her reflection as she pulled her coat over her blouse and then pulled her pants up, thankful that whatever means Vaius had used to clean her clothes had managed to get out the stink of the water she'd fallen into days earlier. Everything smelled faintly of vanilla and thyme, adding to the crisp feeling of the freshly washed clothes. The shower had done her nerves some good but Bree's words still bugged her. "That's not fair."

"Life seldom is." The tiefling said as he crossed one leg over the other at the knee, watching Kat fuss with her hair a bit before he tossed her a brush. "But look at it this way, it could always be worse. You're in good company and for her _many_ vices, she wouldn't endanger the ship- or its occupants- without good reason."

"Yeah, I know." Kat caught the brush without thinking about it, still messing with her bangs. "But it still seems like indentured servitude-"

"Welllllllll" The man's tone pitched up several notches like nails on a piece of slate. "You did almost set Nyx on fire."

"I don't remember that!" Kat shot back. "I. . . don't remember much of anything, honestly. . ." She sighed. "Whatever. I'm not gonna help her raid someone who's done her no wrong, though. That's not. . . That's just not right." He went silent for a long moment as he watched her brush her hair back and tie it into a pony tail. Not terribly flattering to her features but it was practical and the way her bangs framed her grey eyes didn't annoy her nearly as much as they usually did. She pulled some errant hair out of the brush and glanced to him. When he shrugged she followed suit.

"She doesn't feel the need to tell me much aside from 'mend that, stop the bleeding there, what's for dinner tonight Vaius?" He leaned back and set his elbow on the vanity behind him. "And it's not like she eats it anyway! I mean all the effort-"

"Hey, um. . . Can I ask you something?"

"Something _else_ you mean?"

Kat rolled her eyes. "Yeah. Why do you work with her?"

Vaius's eyes considered her for a moment. A subtle smirk pulled at his lips before he spoke. "Let's say we're-"

"Allies of convenience?"

"Pff. We have similar goals- I want the good life denied to me by my heritage and she. . . well. She's an ambitious one, that woman. You can see it in her eyes, she'll take what she wants from the cosmos if she has to fake a smile or rip the heavens in two to make it happen." He smiled a little more at some memory, sighing. "She's a good sort. Bit scary if you get on her bad side, though."

Kathrine swallowed, recalling the keen gaze she'd seen in the woman during their first meeting. It was as though anything and everything someone was could be unraveled under that gaze. It _was_ unnerving but she'd never seen the woman truly _mad_ at anyone. "Is that why you're always here?" She motioned around his room. The only one she'd found on the ship with a 'shower' which he was kind enough to let her use.

"Hm? Oh pff. What's out there that I haven't seen here, hm?" He said as he tapped his temple. "There's nothing in life I can't experience between the covers of a good book."

"Huh. . . Well um. . ." Maybe she'd been wrong about him in the first place- it was his harritage most people judged him by, just like she had. But if his greatest crime was locking himself in his room with a stack of books, how could she have faulted him for that? She swallowed. "I uh. . . I'd like to apologize, mister Vaius."

"Hm? Whatever for?"

"I uh. . . I judged you without knowing anything about you and. . . I'm sorry."

The man simply stared at her for a long moment, his brow knitting in thoughtful consideration before a soft, almost paternal smile warmed his face. When he spoke again his voice was slightly warmer than she'd ever known it. "Well thank you, that means a lot coming from you." He nodded. "Apology accepted. But you should get top side before the cat thinks you're going to squirm your way out from under his paw."

"Yeah, I suppose so, huh?" Kathrine handed the hair brush back and straightened out her coat. "How do I look?"

"Vain and self serving. You'll fit right in." He smiled.

Kat had to smile. "Yeah, thanks." She left a few moments later checking the spell component pouches sewn into her coat to make sure everything she needed was in place. She'd gone to great lengths to ensure her reagents were within easy reach and had spent the better part of the morning preparing abjurations to protect herself and whomever might be going along with this nebulous raid. Feeling the reassuring weight of her spellbook hanging from the chain on her belt set her mind at ease, it was a measure of control over her surroundings she'd been desperately searching for even if not consciously. It was that measure of control that kept her from flinching when she got to the top of the ladder that lead to the main deck to see Nyx and half a dozen of the strange lanky men staring at one another.

His body was coiled low, shoulders and wings slung back as if to pounce on the nearest man but none of them looked particularly bothered by the display of the massive sphinx. She was just about to say something when he launched backward into the thick grey clouds at lightning speed. The men followed his movement with their gaze still seemingly unconcerned even as he fell back further into the clouds.

A shiv of pristine ivory shattered the thick grey sky for just a second when Nyx spread his wings before being swallowed by a cloud. Kat ran to the rail to look for him, images of his tumbling down to an unknown depth fluttered in her mind. But in the next second he swooped down the deck raking the back of his claws against the wood nearest the men who still looked on with mild disinterest. He brushed past them so fast that their loose flowing clothes fluttered in his trailing wind. None of them flinched.

The sign of warriors who were exceptionally disciplined. They were going to be helping on this raid. . . By choice? Maybe. Kat looked at them uncertainly. Bree'd said she'd met them on the plane of Limbo and they'd let her leave in peace if she escorted them to the Astral so that must've meant. . . Limbo. . . Limbo. Why was that name so familiar?

"Good of you to join us, morsel." A deep rumbling voice pulled her attention to the side. Nyx was sitting hunched down on the edge of the rail like a gargoyle with his fore paws wrapped around the wood and his rear legs cocked back as if ready to jump at a moment's notice. His wings were just folding against his body as he looked her up and down with a reassuring nod. "What spells have you prepared, mage?"

"Prieste-"

"Symantics. Your spells, please."

Kat blinked at his tone. It was the same sort of tone her father had used when he was trying to train her to become a Purple Dragon- before he learned she was about as likely to last in a sword fight like he was in a running contest with her. "Uh. . . Abjurations- protections; Shield, Dispels, protection wards primarily. A few evocations too."

"Evocations. . . Fireball?"

She frowned. "No. Darkness, Gust of Wind. . . stuff like that."

His eyes searched her for a silent moment as though measuring her. A flicker deep within their depths of some unknown emotion lit his feline eyes leading to a slight smile that exposed his canines. "Very good, priestess. Join the others and we'll get started planning. . ."

"Uhm. . . Others?"

He nodded to the men who'd turned their attention to her. She swallowed.

"O- Okay."

The lanky men with their yellow eyes didn't look away from her as she approached nor did they respond to her coy wave even when she was only a few feet away. "Um. . . Hi there?"

They just stared at her.

Kat frowned. "Alright. . . my name's Kathrine Stoneriver, I'm a priestess in service to Chauntea-. . . oh." Heat welled up on her cheeks as a thought struck her. "I uh. . . I'm sorry about last night. I was a little. . ."

"Yes, a 'little' is an understatement. Moving on." Nyx plodded around Kat brushing her leg with his tail in passing. He reached back into his wild flowing mane producing a small map which he laid out in front of them, staking it down with a claw. Kat knelt down to hold the other corner flat and the man with the brown skin held down the other corner. It was the map she'd seen on the table in Bree's quarters depicting the flat plane with small circles. Nyx reached forward with his other paw drawing a claw across the plane as he began to explain the situation. "This is our meeting place, we're here to sell a piece of equipment 'liberated' from the clutches of an unpleasant lich. . ." His gaze flicked to Kat. "Now that we're all up to date, here's what we'll do.

"Our traders are going to be likely waiting in ambush- more greed than sense if you ask me. The most likely place is going to be hidden behind these mountains here. It's the only ground on the entire plane but it attracts fierce lightning storms. We won't have time to spend burning candle light or making fancy defensive maneuvers. We'll disable their ships before we meet with the client and then we'll be off before they know what's going on." His claw traced a semi circle around the rear of the mountain tapping on each circle as he went. "The cloud cover is thickest here and something in the ground attracts the lightning so they'll be a ways off expecting us to pull up near the piece of ground."

"We're not going to. . ." Kat looked to him. "Are we? The ship could go up like tinder-"

"We are." He shrugged that awkward shrug. "We-"

"C- Can I ask? What've these people done that they deserve to die-"

"We're not going to _kill_ them." His gaze turned to the men with the yellow eyes. "No one dies today. Disable them but leave them alive."

The man closest to her simply stared at the sphinx. His gaunt face held no readable emotion but somehow Kat could imagine he was silently challenging the decision. Eventually he gave a slight nod of understanding. Nyx returned the nod and glanced at Kat. She nodded and opened her mouth to speak.

"You and the Captain will make the meeting, I'll take care of their uninvited guests with ours." His rumbling voice trailed off for just a moment before he tapped his claw on the map to indicate their path of travel. "We'll approach from the south and drop off our fighters as we pass. Then the ship will come around a wide loop and settle over here so you can conduct your business. Once finished, come get us and we'll be off. Questions?"

"Yeah- um. . . How do you know they're going to be there in the first place?"

He looked at her as though it was a foregone conclusion. "The captain has a hunch."

"A hunch. . ."

"A hunch." He nodded. "Anything else?"

"What if you guys get into trouble, how will we-"

"I'm sure we can take care of ourselves, but your concern is appreciated." Nyx looked at her with a subtle smirk pulling at his lips. Perhaps his way of saying that if everything went to pot, he'd be the only one coming back. She really couldn't blame him.

"Okay. . . Do we know if they have any special kinds of magic I should be aware of?"

"They're likely divine spell casters, though I doubt they have any access to anything more destructive than a divine hammer or some such." With cool indifference he unstaked his claw from the map and began rolling it up. "We'll be gone before that becomes an issue."

"You don't sound so sure."

Nyx perked a brow. "And since when have you become an expert on the mindset of extra planar beings?"

"Erh- sorry." A flash of lightning shattered the grey clouds a few feet from the right of the ship sending their shadows across the main deck in long strokes that vanished as quickly as they formed. Despite herself, Kat ducked instinctively letting out a soft yelp, expecting at any second to see magic flying towards or around her. She'd have been dead, she knew it. She was supposed to be in control of her concentration and instead she was cowering like a complete wuss. Someone was going to get killed at this rate if things went bad. . .

Nyx looked at her skeptically as though he was reading her thoughts and agreeing completely. His chest inflated slightly and he sighed it out. "Perhaps you should stay with the ship."

"No, no, it- I'll be okay." Kat forced herself upright and straightened out her coat, trying to ignore the side long glances of the yellow eyed men. "I'm not going to flake out or anything."

He shook his head as he turned towards the rear cabin already starting to head back at a lazy pace. "We shall see." His tail swished back and forth slowly. "Make your preparations, we haven't much time." A flicker of lightning deep in the clouds burst and died off just as a human sized hour glass blinked into view in front of the cabin. It was an illusion, Kat was sure of it, depicting a half empty top half draining quickly into the bottom. At the rate it was going, they had maybe fifteen minutes to finish their preparations.

Kathrine glanced to the men who stared right back at her for a full beat before seeming to loose interest and look to one another. Abruptly the six of them turned away from Kat and started toward the hatch leaving her alone in the middle of the deck as a flash of lightning lit the entire ship only a foot away. It was so close she could smell the ozone and could _feel_ her hair bristling with the static electricity. She yelped again and ran for the rear cabin at full speed.

_Some War Wizard you would've made._

_# # # #_

Bree casually tousled Nyx's hair with her free hand as her other finished tightening the leather strap around her thigh that held a small dagger scabbard. Much to Kat's surprise, the massive sphinx didn't object or even seem to acknowledge the gesture while he set the ambush map on the table. Something in their playful demeanor had changed slightly and it was readable even to someone normally as blind as Kathrine, they'd changed to a kind of serious professionalism that she'd only seen in soldiers who were 'on duty' at all times. Unlike those soldiers, however, they were comfortable enough with one another that nothing need really be said; a simple touch here and a glance there was as much that passed between them as they finished their battle preparations.

Nyx carried a simple amulet hanging from his neck that depicted a Draconic rune circle similar to the circles she'd seen in the ice plane. The ornamentation looked slightly out of place on his broad chest but it was clear without even reading the smaller runes that it was a protective amulet of considerable power. It made sense that he didn't wear it often but the choice was probably one of aesthetics rather than any practical concern he might be attacked on the ship.

Similarly, Bree's fashions hadn't changed at all with the exception of the simple dagger. Her hair was still a carefully teased mess resting on her shoulders and her lips, ever so slightly pouted were still smiling that genuine warmth of someone infinitely secure in her position in the multi-verse. There was tension in her shoulders but it was more like anticipation instead of the fear Kat had first thought it to be.

Kat on the other hand was suited for just about anything she could be. Her coat was fully stocked with reagents, her brother's longsword hung at her belt with reassuring heft ready at a moment's notice and she had the two most important wands within easy reach 'just incase'. She had prayed for and received Chauntea's blessings even considering her company and their 'mission', it was perhaps a minor thing but something that helped put her mind at ease. If She wouldn't object to what they were about to do, maybe it wasn't so bad after all.

Bree's gloved hand paused on Nyx's upper shoulder right above his wing for a moment longer causing Kat to shift a little. Maybe she'd been wrong about her assessment of things. Maybe she had no idea at all what their relationship was. It wasn't really her business anyway. . . Kat cleared her throat to get their attention.

"Hm?"

"Should we get the. . .uh. . .thing. . .?"

"Fear not, I picked it out when you were getting ready."

"Okay. . . um. . . What uh. . . what is it you want me doing when we get there?"

"Do what you do best, miss Stoneriver." She smiled a warm grin. "Be beautiful and live passionately."

Kat furrowed her brow. "Yeah but-"

"We'll be fine, dear." A soft chirping sound followed her words as the hour glass on the inside of the cabin emptied its contents into the bottom par of the glass. The woman stood to her full height before pulling her collar up and wiping her hair a bit to frame her face with wavy curtains of her glistening black. She looked to Kat with a soft smile. "Let the show begin, hm?"


	15. Volume 3: All Hands on Deck: Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Lightning silently split the dense grey clouds just long enough to highlight the very tip of the land mass to the left side of the ship. Visibility was minimal and the sky threatened to smother them in its coal colored depths as the ship silently pushed onward. Bree stood at the prow of the ship with her hands clasped behind her back while the entire group of the gaunt men stood to the left side of the vessel, some watched over the side for hints of their quarry and others waited nearby seeming in no hurry.

Kathrine flinched as a bolt of lightning struck the main deck only to be absorbed by whatever spells had been woven into the wood leaving no sign that anything had touched the ship at all. The long vessel languidly pulled to the right with a very slight roll almost as though it was beginning to turn over on its side. Kat gripped the prow a little tighter and swallowed, glancing at Bree who smiled at her reaction. She was just about to speak when Bree put a finger to her lips and held it there.

Nyx's form ghosted the very fringes of Kat's vision ahead of them, sliding back into view a little before he continued forward leading them with a gentle roll of his own body signaling they would be turning to the left next. When the motion came, Kat was ready for it already having caught her balance. It amazed her that he could see where even her Ultravision spell failed to pierce the thick clouds. Perhaps it was some sort of magical ability beyond her senses or maybe they'd planned it out this way- which would mean they knew exactly where their potential ambushers would be. Whatever the case, Bree seemed completely unconcerned with the possibility they might run into something as the ship continued its silent turn away from the land mass leaving it to fade into the clouds.

Bree abruptly raised her left hand. Kat's heart stopped.

She peeked over the edge of the prow down into the gloom just in time to see them sliding over a small vessel about the size of a house with a sloped forward deck and a thick mast built into the center. A faint glimmering effect appeared to shield the ship from the elements but the man behind the large wheel located at the rear of the ship didn't appear to have all that much faith in it. Even from her position, Kat could see the concern in his body language and though he didn't appear to be wealthy, he still reminded her of the young officers her father had told her about who were experiencing their first real taste of combat. Nervousness. Anticipation. . . They _were_ expecting to ambush Bree and they were scared. . . Kat glanced at the woman to her left with an uncertain expression.

Bree's hand came down to her side quickly.

Five of the lanky men jumped down over the side of the ship and into the wispy darkness.

Another burst of lightning lit over the deck, spiraling downward towards the front of the ship down between the prow and Nyx. Kat's body tensed as images of the flying sphinx getting caught in the bolt burst into her mind. For a second she thought she saw Bree's shoulders tense too but maybe she was imagining things. Nyx surged forward for a couple of beats and faded back into view.

This time Bree raised both hands up above her head.

_Uh oh. . ._ Kathrine looked over the front of the ship again and squinted. They were close enough that she could've thrown a pebble down heard the sound of it hitting the deck of the long ship they were just about to glide over. None of the dozen or so men and women looked up though Kat's heart sank as she saw the black and grey uniformed people pushing long iron tubes on wheels into positions facing out from the center of the ship. The tubes were in the process of being stuffed with small black balls or silvery looking canisters the size of a human torso. The same shimmering effect ghosted the large vessel in a perfectly spherical pattern that actually crackled and sparked like one of Kathrine's explosive electric spheres. She was just about to say something when she saw the woman behind the wheel at the rear of the ship look up.

Maybe she'd sensed someone looking down on her or maybe she'd seen the ship. It could have been any number of things but she'd seen them. Kat was sure of it.

But why wasn't she reacting?

Kat watched the woman as her heart hammered against her ribs but the woman stood there, squinting. And just as abruptly she looked away to something someone was doing on the deck. In the next moment she was gone under the ship.

Bree's hands fell to her sides again and this time the majority of the lanky men jumped from the side of the ship. A split second later Kat could hear the discharge of magic explosives muffled by the hull . There were a couple shouts- men, women. . . a guttural growl. And then silence.

The ship banked ever so slightly to the left forcing Kat to grab the railing or fall. Bree never once moved or changed her position, instead holding to the deck with her feet firmly planted almost as though she were part of the vessel itself. It had to have been some sort of magic, Kat's mind bristled with a warning at that for some reason but she couldn't quite figure out why.

Nyx slipped back towards the ship at an upward cant as though he was going to wait for the ship to catch up and land on its deck. However when they passed under him, the sphinx slowed down and drifted to the left side where the remaining men, all three of them, seemed to be waiting for Bree's signal. A bolt of lightning slammed into the deck mere inches from Nyx's right side. Kat instinctively ran to help already preparing a healing blessing but she felt a hand grab her shoulder with such strength it killed all her momentum. In the next instant she realized why.

The massive sphinx rolled away from the blast smoothly and a subtle change in his direction had him sailing towards the men too fast for anyone or anything to have gotten out of the way. His weight bowled into their chests sending all four of them tumbling over the rail and into the abyss. Kat's heart stopped and she tried to run forward again but Bree held her firm with that one hand.

"But-"

The hand squeezed so hard Kat flinched. "Shh."

She looked at Bree with wide eyes pointing. Her mouth opened but the words wouldn't come. He might've been hurt, he might be falling into oblivion and this woman didn't care anything about him? How was that even remotely fair or right?

As if to answer her question she leaned in to Kat's ear, whispering. "All things in time, my good priestess. . . Have faith, hm?"

He could fly. . . He was a sphinx. . . That meant he probably had access to his own healing. Right?

Kathrine looked at Bree and bit her lip. The woman smiled softly and brushed her thumb through Kat's bangs. Her bright eyes flashed with warmth almost as blinding as the lightning before she whispered again. "Your compassion does you justice, miss Stoneriver, I assure you- he's quite fine. Have a look." She nodded towards the front of the ship.

Another small vessel was below them about fifty paces ahead and on its deck six men and a woman were frozen in postures of attack aimed at the sphinx sitting on the prow. He hopped off on to the deck and approached the humans just as Bree's ship sailed over them, already changing it's course again. Kat exhaled a breath she hadn't realized she was holding and glanced at Bree uneasily. How did she know? "Who are these people?"

"Oghmans. . ." Bree shrugged. "Something about having an artifact of theirs stolen or some such rot." The ship continued to turn as Kat stammered, trying to string two words together to form a coherent thought. "Oh, no. Not us, dear." Bree glanced at her out of the corner of her eye. "We were here to recover it, but for a lich and his silly ambitions. Now they wish to betray us. . . I find that most unbecoming, don't you?" She smiled.

Kat exhaled softly. "I thought. . ."

"There you go thinking again."

"Hmph."

"A jest, miss Stoneriver. . ." The woman trailed off as they rounded the thickest of the storm clouds and slid into its suffocating darkness.

Kat held her breath until a barren piece of blasted soil appeared before them a hundred paces in front of the ship. It was a flat plane for miles around blasted by eons of lightning strikes powerful enough to leave craters in the greying soil almost as though life was denied a foot hold here by Talos Himself. Kat frowned at the thought as the ship continued forward.

After a few seconds the ship slowed to a pace that most people could easily walk beside and not loose get winded. Bree moved from her position to turn her attention towards the right side of the ship, laying both her hands on the rail she took a deep breath through her nose and let it out as a sigh before she began to sing a soft melody. Her voice was angelic with a haunted quality of too many years without comfort or happiness and while there no words to the song, Kathrine could _feel_ the meaning behind each rise and fall of the woman's longing timbre.

Kathrine stood in silent awe as the woman's voice washed over her, pulling at the strings of her soul with unbidden gentleness; it snaked through the defenses that told her to be wary of this woman to wrap around her heart where it stayed, forever etched into her like a second spirit. In only a few bars, Bree had torn apart everything Kat had thought of her only to rebuild it in her own image.

And it was beautiful.

The woman's song slowed to a quiet stillness leaving Kat at a loss for words. She stepped forward on shaky feet, trying to brace herself before she fell, instead leaning slightly against Bree's shoulder. Kat didn't trust her voice to form any words so she laid her hand around the woman's waist and hugged her with a soft sigh of her own. Such longing pain and distant ache couldn't begin to be helped by a simple hug but it was the only thing Kat could do- so drawn to the woman she wanted to melt into her, to take that hurt and see the woman smile again, though she couldn't exactly tell why.

It was that moment more than any other Kat was sure she could feel something distinctly _off_ about the woman in her arms but for some reason it didn't matter. It was going to be okay so long as she held on. They'd _both_ be okay because Bree was. . . She was Bree. What else did she need to be? Kat smiled. It was going to be okay.

Kathrine touched her forehead to Bree's temple but the woman didn't respond. Her hands never left the rail. Kat tried harder to get her attention, bringing both arms around her and hugging her gently. She needed at as much as Bree did. They both needed to hear it would be alright and-

"Kathrine, dear. . . Get ahold of yourself. Business before pleasure."

Just like that the aching sensation to be with the woman vanished, slamming Kat back into reality as though she'd been thrown from the ship. A burning heat welled on her cheeks as she realized where she was and the positioning of her hands. . . Kat exhaled sharply. "Uh. . . s- sorry." She reached up with a trembling hand and pulled the woman's coat back into position smiling sheepishly. "I uh. . ."

"Oh, I don't mind, dear." She smiled slightly though her eyes never left the horizon in front of them. When she raised her voice it carried more than Kat imagined it could. "I think out guests might, though."

With those words a ship slid into Kat's peripheral view coming from the rearward section of Bree's own vessel to pull along side them. The ship itself was as small as the ones they'd flown over and simple in design with untreated wood that reminded Kat of unfinished furniture, nowhere near as ornate or beautiful as Bree's ship but utilitarian and, Kat was sure, it was probably extremely fast. On the mid deck a young man stood wearing a simple half length wool coat and leather breeches with well polished black boots. Kat noticed the man's silver chain necklace a moment before he adjusted his coat trying to look nonplussed at whatever he might've seen. "On the contrary, I love a good show." His voice was smooth and professional.

"Then by all means, let's discuss it after our transaction." Bree smiled lightly. "Do you have our agreed upon sum?"

"That depends, were you able to-" His voice died on his lips when Bree produced the silver medallion from her coat pocket. Her smile was mirrored on his face but something was different. It was greed lighting those eyes.

"Any other questions, mister Turnik?"

"Not at all." He clasped his hands behind his back casting a glance back to someone Kat couldn't see. "Get the chest." When he looked back to Bree his voice softened a bit. "You do live up to your reputation miss Lyonsbane, you have the thanks of the Church and my Order."

Bree slipped the amulet back into her pocket still smiling. Turnik's expression became slightly more apprehensive as he laid his hands across the rail of his own ship. Bree smiled softly as she watched the man, clasping her hands infront of her and bending over slightly in a casual posture. "You know. . . where I come from there are three rules everyone learns pretty quickly. Would you like to hear them?"

The man glanced back over his shoulder briefly. "Certainly. . . Your reward should be here in just a moment."

"I'm sure." She smiled. "The rules are simple; every man finds his own truth. Never deal with a dragon and choose your enemies carefully." Her thumbs pressed together lazily, eyes never leaving the man. A few moments passed in silence and all the while his expression remained pensive even as a chest shimmered into view right beside him. He glanced at it and then hefted the bulky box up to the rail with some obvious effort. Before he could reach for the lock Bree continued. "I wonder, mister Turnik, which of those rules have we violated right now?"

The young man swallowed.

Bree glanced up. "Oh, you must be expecting your compatriots. . ."

The man's body stiffened slightly. "Of course not, this was an amiable meeting."

"Naturally! So, let us take a look at the chest, hm? Be a dear and open it?"

Turnik swallowed and turned the key. He opened it. Gems were heaped up in the velvet lining; diamonds the size of the tip of Kat's thumb were piled in with glowing sapphires which pulsed with their own divine energy. Amongst some of the smaller gems were rubies and emeralds piled into a small mound that threatened to spill from the wooden box. Kathrine's jaw dropped.

Bree nodded once, voice patient and a bit distant. "A fair sum."

"Exactly as you requested-"

"Well, there is one small problem, mister Turnik. . ."

He stiffened again slightly. Kat found it in her to close her mouth and look over. "And what's that?"

She smiled and pointed behind him.

Three ships, two small ones and one large one slipped out of the clouds behind him. They'd been lashed together with thick braids of rope floating towards them high enough that they wouldn't run into the meeting ships. Sitting on the prow of the largest ship a regal looking sphinx looked down at the man as the three ships continued sailing towards them. Nyx spoke in a gravely voice as the ships floated over head. "I could've sworn they had valet docking here. . ."

It was Turnik's turn for his jaw to drop. His eyes went wide and for a moment it looked like his head would do a complete turn as the ships floated over their heads into the opposite cloud bank.

"So, would you care to try again, mister Turnik?"

Kat giggled.

Bree smiled blithely. "I'd love nothing more than to think of this as a giant misunderstanding, wouldn't you?"

"I- I-. . ."

"Ah? Cat got your tongue? He does that. . . a lot." She rolled her eyes making a show of glancing after the departed ships. "I believe the words you were looking for were. 'I'm sorry, I wasn't trying to betray you and this is the reason we wanted to keep you silent about what you found." She smiled again looking at him with renewed interest.

"I-"

"Focus, mister Tunik, it could be worse!"

"I- Who _are_ you people?"

Kathrine drew in a breath as she processed the new information. It made sense. Why else would they have been set up for an ambush if not to keep knowledge of the artifact Bree had found quiet? She glanced at the woman and then to Turnik. "May I say something?"

"By all means- ah, mister Tunik, this is my newest friend. . ." She casually reached up and slung her arm over Kat's shoulder. Kat bit her lower lip. "Go on, my good woman. Let us hear your thoughts on the matter."

"It's an artifact of your faith, isn't it?"

"I'm not at liberty-"

"Then hear me out, maybe you can fill in the gaps. . . Um. . . It's an artifact who's magic is molded around the user's desires, right? Or is it -its- desires that mold the user's?"

Turnik looked at Kat blankly for a moment. "I. . ."

Bree looked to him. "Should probably tell the poor girl the truth before we forget our good manners." She smiled at his fidgeting.

"I don't know. . ." He swallowed. "Believe me when I say it. I was sent to recover it by any means necessary and-"

"And you really thought three ships would be enough. . ."

"It wasn't ever supposed to turn violent-"

"Clearly!" Bree's hand slipped down to the crest of Kat's lower back. . . and then just slightly lower.

Kat bit deep into her lower lip.

"How very fortunate for you that I've the company of such people to keep me honest, my good man. . . Elsewise I suspect we'd have problems greater than you yet realize."

"They won't stop coming after you; you hold a relic of Oghma. It's folly to tread His purview so recklessly! Give it here and we can put this behind us. . ."

"Normally I would love nothing more than to do so." Bree's hand stayed lightly pressed to the base of Kat's spine gently applying pressure to the top of her back side yet the contact was both reassuring and somehow pleasant. . . Not necessarily in a sexual way but simply feeling so close to her left Kat with a sense of confidence somehow beyond her normal capacity. "However, my friend here happens to be quite the researcher. So I'll offer you this one chance to get your trinket back. . . Tell us what it is and I'll _give_ it to you."

"I told you, I don't know!"

"Please, sir, she's not going to hurt you but I might be able to help if you can tell me something about it. . ." Kat jumped when Bree's hand grabbed her backside. Letting out a strangled 'eep' she shot Bree a look.

"That's unfortunate! If you change your mind, though, do let me know. In the meantime, you can take those." She nodded to the chest full of gems. "And give them to your Loremaster along with my deepest regards."

"But-"

"Be thankful I'm letting you leave alive." Bree pulled back and turned on her heel. The ship rose steadily and started to bank away.

"This isn't over, they'll find you!"

"I'm counting on it!"

Kat bit her lower lip as she watched man stare up at the departing ship. She exhaled, glancing back. _What've I gotten myself into?_


	16. Volume 3: Chapter 10: End of Volume 3

Chapter 10

Nyx's massive frame touched down with grace and only the _click_ of his nails hitting the deck to announce his arrival while Kat watched as the young man with the small ship scrambled down below its deck and out of view. It didn't occur to her that none of the other men had come back with the sphinx but she was too busy mulling over the implications of what Bree had said to really be concerned immediately.

Bree's heels clicked against the polished wood deck fading into a soft patter after a few seconds. Her voice, chipper and almost smiling in its own way carried through out the entire open space between them. "And this, my friends, is why I love my job~~" She trailed off. "Ah. . . Mister Nyx, praytell you've not lost all our guests, I trust?"

"Not at all." His rumbling voice took on a slightly mischievous quality that grabbed Kat's attention almost as if an explosion had gone off. The last time she'd heard that sort of tone from a sphinx she'd been warned about one of her companions who was planning to betray them, though he'd said it in such a way that she had to put thought into decifering his meaning it had carried a lot of weight when the time came and now the tone set the hair on the back of her neck on end. He was smiling faintly at Bree's look of curiosity. "They're a bit tied up. Strangest thing, I guess I grabbed the wrong rope."

Bree didn't smile. "The one-"

He shrugged. "Oops."

"Oops. . ." The woman crossed her arms with a slight frown pulling at her perfectly pouted lips. "So they have ships."

"That they do!" His smile brightened at some joke Kat still wasn't catching on to. "You might say they're a bit anchored to them infact."

"Anchored, yes. . . Well, never let it be said you're not the _mast_er or word play but I don't seem to recall that being part of the plan my petulant feline friend."

"Plans change." He shrugged indifferently as he squatted down on his haunches still looking up at Bree with a mischievous smile. "I guess we'll have to change course!"

"Uh huh. . ." Her gloved hands lazily slid to her belt. "You know, I imagine they're going to be pretty upset when they get free. . . Don't you, miss Stoneriver?"

"Uhm. . ." Kat swallowed. "Yeah, I bet. . .?"

Bree shrugged. "Well! Let's not be here when they get loose!" She started forward past Nyx and reached out in passing, running her hand through his mane. "Ships. . ."

"Mmmhmmm." He looked after her, then to Kat with a smirk. "Darndest thing, really is." He winked.

The ship pitched upward at a slight angle just as she took a stance near the prow, clasping her hands behind her back. Her shoulders squared off and her head lowered almost as if in prayer while just off to the left side of the ship the smaller vessel sailed underneath Bree's at a lightning pace into the clouds beyond.

Kat looked after the black haired woman then to Nyx who was casually watching the captain as well. Something in the way his tail flicked, the way his ears were laid flat spoke of irritation but his smile was patient and even a bit amiable. When he glanced Kat's way his smile became more sincere.

A bright yellow pin point of light speared across the deck a split second before opening into a circle about the size of a grape fruit in front of the ship. In another moment it was growing to encompass the diameter of the ship, the light from it began to gradually fade as it grew larger, revealing a forest of staggeringly large mushrooms bigger than any tree Kat had ever seen. Under the hazy sky shadows flickered and jumped at erratic angles almost like a fire crackling through the sky but in some far off corner a sun burned a steady glow over the fungus unconcerned with the impending entry of the ship.

Kat's jaw felt heavy, the magical formulae running rampant behind her eyes tried to suggest to her how someone could create a portal so large without some kind of focus or a ritual, or _something _more. She hadn't even uttered a single syllable of arcane or divine casting; no hand gestures; no reagents. She was cheating somehow.

Stuff like that didn't happen in any sane way without some _extremely_ powerful magic behind it.

The portal continued to open at a steady pace and for the first time Kat could feel the crackle of power bristling around the diameter of the expanding circle. It tickled ever part of her senses and set the hairs on her neck on end. More than the thought of the portal swallowing them up, the notion that the woman could control such a thing with nothing more than a thought sent a shiver through Kat's spine. There was studied power, the kind she could wield, the kind that took years of work, of long sleepless nights pouring over books trying to unlock the specific formulae that would allow someone to change their clothe's color or lay waste to an entire building.

And then there was this.

Bree's head raised just slightly as the ship started forward into the portal. Kat grabbed the rail glancing at Nyx who didn't seem all that concerned with the display. It was so far beyond anything Kat had ever witnessed that she was overwhelmed for just a moment, her mind trying to make sense of the dynamics of how such a thing would even be remotely possible. From everything she knew of portal dynamics, the gods themselves could make them and maybe a wizard would get to a point where he or she could teleport themselves somewhere. . . But this? This was beyond anything Kat could comprehend. She barely managed to choke down a yelp of surprise as the crackling sensation flickered over her like a static discharge.

In the next moment the ship was sliding through the portal taking it's occupants with it from the gloomy grey cloudy mess to an ambient lit sky with mushrooms towering well into the clouds. The stalks loomed over them but never felt threatening while strange birds darted between them chasing one another in the humid, sub-tropical heat.

Smells of fresh pine needles swept over Kat's senses while the ship continued its journey, finally freeing itself from the glowing hole in space after a few seconds. Kat looked back just in time to see the portal slam closed into a pin point right after the last of the ship was through. Beyond the rear of the ship more of the quick birds ducked under the cap of one of the smaller mushrooms catching spores that fluttered lazily in the breeze. As far as she could see similar stalks towered into the sky leaving only a maze like alley to navigate with no ground in sight.

Bree unclasped her hands from behind her back and stepped forward to the prow, resting both hands on the wood. With a soft sigh, the only sound she made, the ship rolled gently to the left before it started turning between a pair of mushroom stalks and beginning a lazy ascent that turned the ship upwards at a slight incline. The woman's shoulders sagged ever so slightly and she suddenly looked drained but Kat had to struggle to really see it due to the way she carried herself so poised and confident.

She glanced back at Kat with a catty grin and winked as if to challenge her to figure out how she might've done it. Before she could answer the challenge, however, Bree threw her hair back with a hand and tugged her coat forward. "A deal is a deal, miss Stoneriver, you've held up your end of it and I will mine." Her voice came out with a slight accent Kat couldn't identify. "We're going to lay over in Broah for a couple of hours to supply. There is a man here named Tesoras-"

Nyx snorted his distaste.

"He owes me a favor, you can find him at the Hidden Lizard tavern. . . Just tell him where you'd like to go and he'll take care of it from there." Kathrine frowned slightly and nodded. Bree held up a hand. "You can trust him, as you can me, miss Stoneriver, I assure you."

Of course that was completely subjective. She knew better. . . Why was it, then, that she was relaxing? Maybe she just _wanted_ to believe in the woman and her friends. After what she'd seen, it would've made sense. They were questionable, certainly, but they weren't murderers and thieves. . . Even faced with treasure of incalcuable value, she'd turned her nose up at it. . .

_For something of more value._

Kat blinked. She had, hadn't she? That relic could've done anything where the gems would only be worth a monetary value. One she likely wouldn't have been concerned about the first place. It'd been the sting of betrayal that kept her from taking the gems but what was she planning to do with that artifact? "Right. . . Um. . . Are uh. . are you-"

"You worry too much, miss Stoneriver." She smiled softly as the ship leveled out. Just ahead was a small wooden dock built into the side of a mushroom cap. Several cranes protruded from the surface dangling chains down to the dock below. "I can't say it hasn't been the utmost of pleasures having you aboard, priestess, but even good things come to an end. Lamentably so." The ship pulled forward slowly until it snugged up near the edge of the dock where it mated up to a padded carrier arm that caught it by the hull. Several other smaller arms slipped under the ship and attached themselves to the opposite side to support the weight of the vessel but Kat never felt it 'give' itself to the supports, instead remaining steady and perfectly in position. "Mister Nyx, be a dear and invite Vaius up? He'll need to build the dinner menu."

Nyx stared at her for a moment with a slightly annoyed expression. Abruptly he hopped up on all fours and trotted to the hatch that'd take him down to the crew quarters. Bree and Kathrine looked at one another for a moment with a heavy silence between them.

Kat swallowed. She had the keys to getting back to the prime material in her hands but what would this woman do with the relic? What would the relic _do_ at all? She needed to. . . No.

No, it wasn't her business.

"You look troubled, dear. Everything alright?"

She swallowed again. She could go home at any time, this woman was powerful beyond words, she didn't need Kat but she seemed to think the artifact was worth enough to keep for herself, even if she didn't know how to use it just yet. Kathrine glanced to the dock and then back to Bree, forcing a smile. She could've had the noblest of intentions or the most destructive at heart but Kat wasn't privy to them.

"Kathrine?"

"I uh. . ." The moment seemed to stop between them as she ran through all the possibilities in a single heart beat. Oghma meant knowledge, something most wizards lusted after but she wasn't a wizard which meant she might've wanted it for something else. But it could've been anything! "I. . ."

"Go on, dear, what's on your mind?"

"Um. . ." With a final deep breath she exhaled the words quickly so as not to think, so much as _feel_ them run away from her lips. "Would you have need of an extra set of hands, captain?"

The woman's pink tinted lips pulled into a sincere smile as her gaze met Kat's. "Oh, I would like that _very_ much."

_3/2/1381 (Relative)_

_Some people think an evoker, or any 'battle mage' (where that one came form, I'll never know. I can barely lift a sword much less use one effectively without some arcane help) could never be a follower of Chauntea because our Lady assuages fire. They really look at you strange when you tell them you're a priest. To those who say it's not possible or somehow 'shouldn't be', I have to smile politely and walk away because I know exactly what'll happen; name calling, hair pulling, slights on my moral and ethical character, questions about my ability to perform my duty. This usually stems from a dire misunderstanding of what it is an Evoker is capable of. These same people who chastise and doubt look at you like you're an idiot when you tell them evokation isn't all fire and lightning._

_I guess I understand it but it still stings a bit to hear people lambast your faith or your desire to serve because of their ill concieved notions of how things _should_ be. I mean, isn't that what Mystra teaches us? To question and challenge so we can become more than we are now?_

-Diary of Kathrine Stoneriver

Author's Note:

Okay, folks. I sincerely hope you've enjoyed this volume though it stretched out far longer than I wanted it to (and went on for a lot longer than I had planned) I promise that whomever might be still with us will find volume 4, _"Book Worms"_ to be much more planned and structured with an emphisis on pacing (both prose and plot) and trying to be more directly engaging. Please, if you have -any- suggestions how I can improve, I am dying to hear them. Comment, PM, email me, I don't care. I just need to know what works or doesn't!

I wish you all a happy and safe holiday here in the states (4th of July!) and I'll see you monday next week where we'll start volume 4: "Book Worms" and see how things go. If you're curious, Volume 4 will be following the crew as they puzzle out exactly what the thing does whilst trying to avoid the Oghman inquisition and a few surprises along the way.

I sincerely hope to see you in the next installment! Have a great weekend and be kind to one another, huh?


	17. Volume 4: Book Worms: Chapter 1

Chapter 1

_3/3/1381 (Relative)_

"_It almost sounds like the start to a joke; a tiefling, a sphinx and a human walk into a tavern. . . only to be pretty much ignored by the extra planar frequenters of the Hidden Lizard. Much like the World Serpent, this place is alight with the glow of a multitude of different racial and ethnic backgrounds. Magic is forbidden here but the real magic isn't cast in spells or potions, it's in the air and in the faces of these people. Eveningstar never had anything like this, let me tell you._

_Humans are an exotic minority among the jumble of fey folk, natural spirits here but it's kind of peaceful even if its just a lay over._

_I. . . spoke to the man she told me to meet with, a large half-minotaur, half-something else creature who assured me that planar gate travel was indeed safe- neglecting, of course, the possibility that someone might've randomly bumped you into a portal- It's not exactly as though I needed that, but I. . ._

_I don't know. I'm sitting here looking at my sextant wondering if maybe I was wrong to want to stay with her. But what can I do? She accepted my offer. And realistically, I owe her my life. . . But something still nags at me._

_My father used to say that sometimes sacrifice was the inevitable cost of making sure evil wasn't allowed to be done to the un deserving. But who am I to decide what is and what isn't evil? I thought for sure trying to help Jezebel would've been the 'right' thing yet my own goddess voiced Her divine anger at my actions. . . Not that I ever sold myself out to evil ends, but-_

_My father had another saying. It went something like: "Do the best that you can with what you have and never forget what it is you're trying to do. There'll be those who'll tell you you're crazy and others who'll offer an 'easier way' but in the end it's you and you alone who must answer for your actions."_

_I don't know what it is I'm trying to do, though. I want to make sure this thing gets used for good ends- or at least to keep it from being used for evil ends. But I don't know what she plans to do with it. All I can do is sit on the sidelines and watch, wondering._

_Maybe that's the punch line of this joke._

_It's been two days since my last drink."_

-Diary of Kathrine Stoneriver

Kathrine sat at the booth on the far side of the tavern staring at the mangled remains of her planar sextant. Sitting precariously on the edge of her diary, the circle at the base of the device kept pulsing a steadily fading glow in the direction of the nearest planar portal. With each pulse the glow was becoming fainter, reminding Kathrine that her chance to return to the Prime Material was also fading. There was still time. She could still go.

The fading pulse of her dying chance burned itself into her eyes at regular intervals as she weighed her options. She _could_ abandon the relic to Bree and her ends and hope that the woman wouldn't do something dangerous with it. She _could_ go back to her life trying to bring people to Chauntea and just pretend this little adventure had never happened.

But was she was a Stoneriver. She wasn't _supposed_ to be a wuss.

More to the point; this was more important, by far, wasn't it? The church of Oghma were dedicated truth seekers and knowledge keepers, not- as far as Kat knew- soldiers and mercenaries. Yet they'd offered gobs of gems to coax Bree to recover the artifact for them and then tried to kill her once they had it in sight. That didn't sound like something the church of Oghma would have done.

She couldn't help what the church had done but if they thought it was important enough to keep Bree quiet, then it was easily conceivable that the artifact held vast power not meant for mortals but _what_? What would've made it worth killing for? Could she have stopped it if Bree found out what it did or how to use it? The only way she could have, would've been to keep an eye on it and the woman herself.

It was a small sacrifice, that's all that was being asked of her. Give up her life as she knew it and shadow the artifact, keep it safe. Keep it out of the hands of those who might potentially misuse it. Kat ran a hand through her hair as the glow faded a little more. Duty was a Stoneriver family value, could she really turn her back on this _potential_ evil and live with herself?

She knew the answer even as she stood up.

She packed the sextant into its new box and stuffed it into her coat pocket along with her diary. She glanced around the tavern with growing trepidation. The low hanging vines that cast off a natural glow lit the spongey walls with shadows from the various occupants but it was at the edge of the bar nearest the door that she found her 'companions'. The ones she'd inevitably have to betray if it came to a question of them or the artifact. Her jaw clenched. She couldn't do that.

It wasn't in her nature.

But what choice did she have?

Courage was another family value. _Do what's _right,_ not what's convenient. _She'd live and die by her family's values, her father would've wanted that, especially from the last Stoneriver in the multiverse. How could she betray her family now of all times? Of course, she could have just as easily been wrong about Bree's intentions for the artifact. Maybe she'd use it for good. All she could really do was wait and see.

_Just don't be a friend. Don't be yourself._

She repeated the words in her mind like a solemn mantra as she approached the sphinx and the tiefling. They glanced up at her approach while the Seelie merchant across from them rubbed some cotton fabric between her fingers and shook her head, practically belching out the word 'bad' in guttural common.

"This is the finest cotton in all the realms! Hand picked by-" Vaius started to object.

"What she means is that it's made out of natural fibers. You're selling dead plants to an arborist." Kat tried to keep her tone neutral. _Don't be a friend. Don't._

"She's wearing plants herself! She could-"

"Here, may I?" She knelt down to the woman's eye level with a soft smile she didn't quite feel. The woman looked at her curiously as Kat motioned over the goods with a questioning expression. The light in her bright green eyes dimmed a bit when Kathrine spoke to her in Slyvan. _"Please excuse the horn headed one, he can be a bit thick headed at times."_

She stared Kat for almost a full second. _"You speak our language? Who taught you?"_

"_My mentor. She. . . demanded I learn it." _

Kat glanced up at Vaius and Nyx, catching a puzzled expression from both of them in return. "Here, let me see that silk." Kat looked back to the woman. "_We do have some very fine cloth here, made from the willing gift of worms." _She motioned to the silk bolt nearest Vaius and began the negotiations.

A few minutes later the negotiations wound down with them trading the silk cloth and a couple of gold pins for the food she had on display and some spices from her 'select' collection meant for those of fey blood. As they loaded the goods into a back pack she could feel Nyx's gaze following her. When she glanced back at him he murmured something in Draconic barely loud enough for her to hear. Her blank expression was all she could muster for a response. She wasn't skilled in the tongue outside of spell casting. He shrugged an awkward shrug and plodded on back to the ship to wait for them.

"Huh. . ."

"Hm?" Vaius glanced up as he finished loading the bag. "Oh yes, he does that. Must not like the company."

"I guess not. . ."

"So you're more than a pretty face and generous back side, I see. No wonder she likes you." He offered a friendly smile before hefting the bag over his shoulder.

Kat looked at him. "You know, some would call it pleasant, thank you very much." Despite the words in the back of her mind she stuck her tongue out.

"Oh I'm sure. I've heard the same thing about dwarven women and facial hair too. To each their own, I say!"

"What do dwarven-" She blinked. "Ew. Oh, gross!"

As he stood up he offered his hand. Kat looked at it for a moment then up at him with an uneasy expression and pushed herself up. She could handle her own. She needed to remember that. Above all, she was here to prevent the artifact from falling into the wrong hands, not make friends.

_Don't be a friend. _

Some part of her felt dirty and _wrong_ even thinking such things but she had to keep the goal in mind. That was the only thing she needed to concern herself with. The tiefling retracted his hand with a flicker of something she couldn't read in his eyes. It might've been hurt or acceptance of some life long cycle of mistrust she was only propagating- No. That wasn't her concern.

She needed to stay focused.

"I uh. I have stuff on my gloves. I didn't-" Kat bit her tongue. Just because she had to remain distant didn't mean she had to _lie_ to do so. "Sorry. . ."

He gave her a slightly puzzled look and shrugged. Without another word he slipped past her heading for the door. She was about to turn when something caught her eye. A human man in a long brown coat was flipping through a book walking from the bar to a booth across the room. He was putting up a good appearance that he was reading but in Kat's state of heightened awareness, she could see him watching her out of the corner of her eye. He slipped himself into a booth and when Kat didn't look away he looked up at her as though doing so for the first time.

Something about him gave off a very homely air. It was familiar and warm as though she could've run into him at her village at any time and he would've fit right in. He had messy brown hair streaked with grey and a face like her fathers; sun kissed and lined from years in the field. Underneath it all, however was a subtle tension like any adventurer Kathrine had ever met. He was prepared for combat and danger in ways not readily apparent.

Kat smiled and inclined her head in return before she turned to head for the docks. Maybe it wasn't all that unusual. She did get glances from men often enough but with the severity of everything they were involved in her mind kept her on alert. Anyone could've been a potential enemy.

She'd gone through the same problems when she and Jezebel were running from the Eclestian Order, everyone was watching them, every shadow threatened to jump out at them. It was the surest path to madness but it'd kept her alive then. She just needed to be careful. That was all. Not _everyone_ was out to 'get' her.

The man was just looking at her. Maybe he had a thing for blondes in white coats, who knew?

As she headed for the docks her hand subconsciously came to rest over the sextant in her pocket. It was too late to go back now. She needed to keep the relic safe.

She also needed to find out exactly what in the Nine Hells the damned thing could actually _do._

# # # #

"Captain's privilege indeed." Nyx rolled his eyes, casting a brief glance towards Kathrine as he took a sip his wine. The four of them sat on the main deck finishing dinner while the ship drifted through the forest of impossibly tall mushrooms. Bree was the only one who hadn't touched her food but she drank, though. Nearly a full bottle of the stuff that'd put Kat on her butt in two sips. This wasn't necessarily unheard of but it still made Kat wonder.

Maybe she was an Aasimar_._ A mixed blood between humans and celestials would have made some sense. She certainly had the profile of one; beautiful eyes Kat couldn't help but search out, flawless skin, glossy black hair that seemed to retain its luster no matter where they were. And those angular features rounded only by the passage of time. She was a staggering beauty and she was strong, confident, warm and- Kat imagined- generous, too.

Why was it, then, that Kat wasn't comfortable around her?

"Captain's privilege." Bree smiled and took another small sip from her glass. "So the next thing on everyone's mind will likely be where do we go from here, yes? Well, I'm glad you asked! I've taken the liberty of checking the library and it seems-"

"We have a library?" Kat blurted.

"Yes,_ I_ do! Now please try to keep up." The woman's smile was warm and soft as she motioned to indicate the food between them. "Apparently there is a rather large repository of knowledge called The Vault of Shakla in the city of Shekla, specifically."

"On which plane?" Nyx grabbed a piece of the cooked bird just before Vaius could get to it. They exchanged a glance but Vaius backed off quickly, feigning an interest in his own wine.

Bree watched impassively for a moment. "Mechanus."

"Easy enough. All law and order. You'll fit right in." The sphinx's claw wrapped around the bird and without even a moment's breath he tore off one of its legs and tossed it in his mouth.

"Yes, like a shoe-glove."

Vaius sighed and laid his hands in his lap giving his attention over to Bree.

Kathrine discretely slid her plate over to Vaius. Somewhere between the dock and the boat she'd lost her appetite anyway. "So uh. . . Forgive my ignorance, but what's Mechanus?"

"Mechanus. . . Nyx, care to field this one?" Bree glanced at him just as he snapped off the leg bone between his teeth. "Or not." She flashed a smile at Kat. "Mechanus is a plane of ultimate order, like a giant machine. Everything runs on its own schedule and the universal laws are enforced without question. If you ask me, it's a dreadfully boring place- the wine is terrible and the food lacks any sort of flavor."

Nyx snorted.

"Shush. Anyway, there are colonies of all sorts of creatures built atop gears there and one we need to find specifically."

"Which would be Shekla. . ."

"Got it in one." She winked. "In Shekla, there's a small monastic order that hails from the Prime and serves as a kind of repository for lost lore and artifacts. It's built in the heart of a rather small cog no bigger than your Arabel and surrounded by a city of mixed inhabitants. They even have their own banks and taverns." She added the last part with a slight roll of her eyes.

"But isn't this order going to be composed of Oghmans?"

"Naturally! So, my question to _you_, dear priestess. How do we sneak in without getting killed?"

"Mph mh" Nyx muttered around a mouth full of bird meat.

Bree glanced at him and for just a split second, Kat was sure she could see a kind of motherly spark in her eyes ready to chide her child for bad table manners. Instead she looked back to Kat patiently smiling with a knowing expression. "Go on, dear."

"Uh. . ."

"We could disguise ourselves as one of them-" Vaius began.

"No." Kat cut him off. "No, monks train together and stuff, they'd pick us out in an instant. Um. . . I'd say we'd need to get in without being obvious about it but, eh, Captain? You're really asking the wrong person, I'm not much on breaking into places and stuff."

"Who said anything about breaking in? I plan on using the front door to enter and exit." She calmly took a sip when the three of them looked at her with disbelief. "I'm no fan of back door shenanigans-"

Nyx opened his mouth.

"Oh behave." Bree set her glass down and steepled her fingers under her chin looking at Kat with that same little smile. "Go on, miss Stoneriver, let's hear your thoughts."

Kathrine swallowed. "Okay, uh. . . I'd say we'd need to blend in with the locals and we'd need to know exactly what it is we're after and how to get to it."

"Leave that to me." She nodded. "Go on."

"Secondly, we'd need some kind of uh. . . _reason_ for being there in the first place. They'd have to have a reason to grant us entry." A moment slipped by in silence with Bree's pale blue eyes lingering on Kat. She fidgeted unconsciously. "Um. . . Nothing I'm sure you haven't thought of, huh?"

"This, my friends, is the power of positive thinking." Bree motioned to Kat. "Despite every reason _not_ to, the good woman's come up with a very realistic set of problems for us to over come. No flying in using distractions and explosives, no elaborate costumes and theatrics. Just simple, straight forward 'here's our goal, here's what could stop us'. How _ever_ did we get by without you, dear?"

Kat could feel the heat rising on her cheeks even though the two men at her side didn't really pay any attention. She was supposed to be the logical one and it only made sense to look at the problems objectively. She hadn't even done anything particularly note worthy yet the woman's lavish praise still tickled some part of her, coaxing a smile she didn't really feel at first. "Oh come on, it's basic stuff. . ."

"Not nearly as fun." Vaius murmured with a shrug.

Nyx grunted softly.

Bree looked at her. "Come then, miss Stoneriver, what would you suggest?"

"Uh. . ." Kat rubbed the back of her neck. "I'm really not one for deception-"

"Minstrels." Vaius snapped his fingers abruptly. "Every city needs bards."

"Bards, you say?" The woman theatrically stroked her chin like some paper cutout villain Kat had read about when she was a child. "Well now, how could this go wrong?"

"A monastic order really doesn't have need of a bard?" Kat pursed her lips. "I mean, it'd probably get us into the city, but. . ."

"Well that's half the battle isn't it?" Vaius shrugged. "You get into the city and move about freely, then wing it from there. Isn't that what _you_ do?"

"Uh. . . No?"

"What you have to understand, gentlemen, is that our young friend here is a very methodical sort. Artifact of the training, I suppose!"

"Uh huh." Kat nodded quietly. "So uh. . . I mean, it'd get us in but what do we do to get into the library?"

"Oh I can help with that." Bree shrugged.

"You?" Nyx tilted his head just slightly. The look of genuine puzzlement across his face set Kat's nerves on edge. It was the look of someone who had no idea what to make of a situation. "You're going to leave the ship?"

"And why not? It's been a while, I could do with a stretch of the legs."

"Hmph." He shrugged.

Kathrine glanced between them. "How would that work, though? If you're thinking about getting in under invisibility, it _could_ work but there's a pretty good chance things could go wrong. They might have anti-magic wards and stuff in place. We'd be picked out in no time."

"As I said, let me worry about that, my dear." Bree stood up slowly and dusted her knees off. "In the meantime, I'd like to show you something. . . The two of you can get some rest, we'll head out when you're all appropriately fluffed."

Kathrine stood up to follow the woman almost without thinking about it. Even when she tried to resist, her body moved without her, drawn to the woman like a moth to the flame. Her objectivity was already failing her and she knew it. She wanted to believe this woman had the best of intentions at heart. Who's smile could be so beautiful and mask an ugly nature so well that even Kat couldn't see it?

They headed down below deck but stopped after the ladder. The T shaped hallway was bent slightly to the right and missing its left branch. The hall that had lead to the crew quarters with the bunk beds was now a featureless hallway devoid of any signs of its former occupants. Directly ahead was the door to Vaius's room and off to the right was an ornate silver inlaid wooden door bearing a wreath made of wheat with a rose in full bloom in its center. The symbol of Chauntea. Under it the word "Chaplain" had been carefully written in flowing silver.

Kat flinched. She had to be objective, cool and calm. She couldn't get attached to this place and these people. But she didn't want to offend them either. When Bree ushered them forward Kat took a slight step back and sighed. "I. . . Captain. . ."

"Hm? What wrong, dear?"

"I uh. . . I _really_ appreciate the thought, I mean it, I do-"

"I do hope you're as much a dancer with those legs as you are with that tongue, miss Stoneriver." She smiled playfully as her hand came to rest between Kat's shoulders. "What's wrong?"

"I uh. . . I can't accept this. I think a little spot on deck to rest my eyes once in a while will be more than enough." Kat swallowed.

The woman's gaze searched Kat's face. A flicker of curiosity burned deep within but it was quickly replaced by suspicion, just briefly, fading into acceptance before she shrugged. "As you wish, miss Stoneriver. But it'll be there if you change your mind, hm?"

"Thanks, Captain."

There was a moment between them that lingered in silence, as though unspoken agreements were meant to be honored but only one of them knew what that agreement was and they weren't ready to share. Something nagged at Kat as she watched the woman. The concern that she was going to do something potentially dangerous with the artifact, of course, but there was something else. Something that just felt _right_ about the touch.

No, she was getting attached.

_No. Bad idea. Don't do that._

Bree leaned in a little almost as though to kiss her. Kat backed up against the wall. The woman didn't stop even as her hand pressed against the wall beside Kat's head. She stopped just an inch from Kathrine's face, whispering in a voice only they would hear. "I sorely miss seeing you in that dress already. "

Kat swallowed. "Sorry?"

"And I had no idea." Her tender lips brushed Kathrine's. She shivered. "You spoke Sylvan."

"I- I-. . ."

"Say something to me in it. . ."

How was it this woman could change pace on the edge of a coin and still keep Kathrine enraptured by her voice? She swallowed and murmured in Sylvan. "_You wouldn't understand how much you terrify me._"

Bree fixed Kat in place with a look as she stepped in a little closer, pressing her chest against her and giving her no where to go. Her other hand came up beside Kat's head as her own head brushed by Kat's cheek. When she spoke her voice was a sultry purr that tickled Kat's ear. "I think you enjoy every moment of it."

Kat swallowed. "M- maybe."

"Good!" Abruptly the woman pulled back. She smiled softly at Kat's confused expression. "I've a feeling we're going to become _very_ good friends."

Kat couldn't bring her voice to the surface, frozen by uncertainty she simply stared at the woman who's smile never wavered. "O- okay?"

"The room is yours if you wish it, priestess. If you prefer the view of the sky light and the mirrors, that's also open to you." She turned to head back up the ladder.

"Um. . . B- Bree?"

"Hm?"

Kathrine sucked air through her teeth and spoke in elven instead. "_I don't suppose you know this language too?_"

Bree winked at her. "As I said, I hope those legs of yours dance as well as that tongue." With that she headed up the ladder to the main deck.

Kat slumped against the wall, not trusting her legs to keep her up. She rubbed her face with both hands. _Focus. Stay. Focused._


	18. Volume 4: Book Worms: Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Kathrine turned her head left and right, looking into the mirror panel in front of her. The reflected light from the red and white glittering wreath she wore on her head helped draw attention to her face and away from the cleavage her outfit displayed for her. Kat fidgeted a little under Bree's scrutiny even as the woman leaned forward and set her chin on Kat's shoulder.

The velvet vest rustled a little when Bree tugged it into place but even despite her best attempts, the fabric only came down to Kat's lower ribs exposing her midriff. The matching skirt, at least, came down to her ankles but she still felt exposed, practically naked without her pants and blouse. She glanced at Bree's reflection to find the woman's gaze lingering on her hips. She swallowed. "H-. . . Do we really have to do this?"

"You look stunning, my good priestess." Bree smiled as she looked to Kat's eyes in the mirror. They stared at each other for a moment with only the steady beat of Kat's own heart to break the silence. Finally Bree's hands slid down Kat's sides, barely caressing her skin on their way down to rest on her hips. The silver hoop belt clicked a little while her hands fiddled with the skirt to ensure it was in position.

Kat drew in a sharp breath involuntarily. She hadn't given Bree permission to touch her. But then she hadn't pulled away either. She couldn't look away from the woman even if she had wanted to. She wanted to hide from her gaze and just pretend she was in control of herself. She had to keep focused.

Bree pressed her cheek to Kat's ear with a murmur still looking to the mirror. "Tell me, dear Kathrine, who is it that stole the light from those beautiful eyes?"

That question stopped her mental squirming as sure as if she'd been slapped. "W- What do you mean?"

"What do I mean? Well. . ." As she spoke her hands slipped around Kat's stomach to cradle either side of her waist, her bare forearms forming an X over Kat's stomach. Kat tensed slightly. "I've the sneaking suspicion you're not being completely upfront with me. . . And it must be tearing you apart."

Kat's heart stopped.

"Ah, I've struck a nerve. Forgive me. . ." The woman's voice trailed off into another kind of whisper that caressed Kat's very soul in its warmth and sincerity. "I only mean that it pains me to see such hurt in those so young. Pray tell, what is it that shadows your beauty with such pain, my dear?"

Kathrine stared at their reflection, unsure how to answer her or even if she should. She was supposed to be trying to be objective and keeping the artifact safe. Not making friends or. . .

_No._ _Oh gods, no._

No. She wasn't falling for this woman. She couldn't be. She had to be stronger.

But she was there and willing. She was genuine and warm and comfortable. Suddenly Kat understood why she'd wrapped her arms around Kathrine; she was trying to remind her that friends and lovers both supported one another. Maybe she wasn't so far from Kat that she couldn't be more than just a beautiful face and a friendly smile.

Maybe Kat was only believing what she wanted to believe.

She broke eye contact, looking down at the floor between them and the mirror. Where did she even begin? Did the woman really care in the first place?

Bree's hands pulled her a little closer and Kat leaned into her warmth. She did.

"I. . ." Kat swallowed. "I fell in love with someone, a long time ago. She. . . uh. . . she'd sold her soul for power. But I tried to help her. I- I mean, we tried _so_ hard to free her from the pact."

Bree's warm breath brushed across her cheek as the woman stood a little straighter and pulled Kathrine completely to her chest. "Did you?"

"Y- Yeah. . . But. . ." She licked her lips. "Yeah, we saved her from it but she still went to the Wall as one of the faithless."

"I see." Bree took a deep breath. "You did a very brave thing, Kathrine." Her voice was laced with concern. "But you didn't choose her fate for her."

The words tore themselves from her lips. "She was my wife." Kat could feel the woman shift her head to look at her but Kat wasn't going to meet her gaze. She knew what she'd find there. An accusatory stare if she was lucky; a condemning one if she wasn't.

Instead, Bree kissed her cheek and hugged her close.

Kat wept and turned into the warmth. She was trembling as she brought her arms around Bree and sobbed. She didn't care if about objectiveness or duty. Just for a moment, she needed to live and let it out. There'd be no time when magic was flying through the air and swords were clanging. They needed to live the moment. Wasn't that always the way her relationships went?

So what.

Bree's strong arms pulled her into the embrace even more before she nuzzled her cheek to Kat's and kissed her ear. There was no need for words and she knew it. Kathrine's sobs eventually faded into whimpers and silence as Bree's hands caressed her lower back. "S- sorry. . ." She managed to whisper around the lump in her throat.

"Shh." The woman pulled back ever so slightly and kissed her cheek again. "You've no need for masks with me, dear girl." Her hands gently swept down Kat's lower back. "All I ask is that you be true to yourself. No one can judge you ill if you don't let them, hm?"

Kathrine opened her eyes a little, stealing a glance at her reflection in the mirror opposite them. Within the infinite hall of mirrors effect, Kat could see Bree looking right back at her. There was warmth within her eyes and patience beyond any measure she'd ever known. Her words rang true as Kat knew they would and for just a moment she lost herself in the memory of her voice replaying in her mind. Kat wanted to believe anything she was told in that voice, if only to have some kind of firm grounding in this woman's life.

More than that, she wanted this kind of comfort. It was whole and pure and tender. The artifact could wait for a bit, couldn't it?

Kat pulled back a little to look up at Bree and sighed as her body slumped in the woman's arms. She reached up slowly, running her fingers into the soft block lacks so she could feel Bree's head in her hands. Some part of her mind quietly warned her she was being nieve but she wasn't listening. How could someone so beautiful be intentionally devious and warm at the same time? She bit into her lower lip and leaned in.

Bree's lips pouted ever so slightly more as the corner of them turned up in a smile. She didn't move in the slightest but her hands. They pulled her all the closer. Upward. She wanted this too but she wanted Kat to do it.

And then someone cleared their throat nearby.

"If you're quite done. . ." Nyx's sauntered in with Vaius behind him and sat down a few feet away from the four post bed near the rear of the cabin. He looked both Bree and Kathrine over before sighing. "Always with the purple. One of these cent-"

"Thank you, mister Nyx." Instead of letting her go completely, Bree slipped around Kat's side keeping her hand at the small of her back. In a flourish she shook her hand out causing the bangles on her wrist to jingle together. "I will keep your comments in mind should I decide to change. Besides, it's the color of royalty and wealth." She flashed a bright smile. "In such company as I am blessed with, one can't help but feel wealthy."

The sphinx fluttered his wings and sighed softly. "Children. . ."

Bree smirked. "You know what they say about children mimicking what they hear, hm?"

"Well I know you didn't hear it from me."

"I seem to recall otherwise." She inclined her head, canting it just enough so she could look at him out of the edge of her vision. "Ah? What's that? 'Yes, Bree, maybe you did?'"

Kathrine watched the exchange with a growing smile. "So um. . . Hey, uh, really, what's the plan here?"

The three of them looked at her like she had a chicken on her head. "Plan?" Bree shrugged. "We don't plan, we improvise."

"Okay. . . But if we fail to _plan, _we're planning to fail, you know?"

It was Vaius's turn to shrug. "We'll get in, draw their attention away from the goings on and slink in through the back- er, front door. Find the archives and pillage to our heart's content."

"Uh huh. Well, may I propose something?"

"Please do." Bree's hand rose slightly against Kat's spine.

"What if we get into this city and just take a tour, you know? I'm sure they get visitors all the time, we could just claim we got 'lost' or something. As far as the actual archives go, whatever we're after will probably be contained in a catalog of some sort if we're lucky- er. Do we _know_ what we're after?"

The blank expressions said it all.

_How do you guys get anything done?_ Kat shook her head, finding her composure in the familiarity of planning things. "Okay, so it's a relic. Information on that would be kind of important so we'll want to look for anything not necessarily in plain sight-"

"Two days with us and she's already making planar jokes. I love it." Bree nodded appreciatively. "Sorry, do go on."

"So we'll find the catalog if they have one and we'll go from there. Right? We'll want to get out under invisibility though, unless we're carrying these scrolls and books in bags. Because I don't see many pockets here." She motioned to her vest suddenly remembering how exposed she was. She hugged her arms over her chest with a frown. "Yeah, so. We'll want to cast that outside, though. If they have any dispelling wards or magic sensory equipment I think we'd be exposing ourselves more than this vest." She shot Bree a glance.

The woman glanced back at her. "I see nothing wrong with this." She winked. "When we get to Shekla we can check the local taverns. I've an old ah. . ."

"Associate." Nyx looked at her.

"Associate's a good word." Bree nodded. "He may be able to get us into the Archives. That man could find his hand in anyone's purse."

"Or castle." Vaius rolled his eyes.

"Ah, yes. Shame about the oil fire, he was doing so well." Bree shrugged casually stealing another not-so-discrete glance at Kat's chest. "He owes me a favor. I've the utmost faith in his ability."

"So we'll tour the taverns, then?"

"Indeed! A sound plan. Let's get to the grunt work."

Before Kat could open her mouth Vaius and Bree were heading towards the main deck. She glanced to Nyx who's eyes were fixed on her with a patient expression. When she didn't speak, he stood up and walked over to her. "I told you not to get attached to her."

"I- I d- didn't."

He sighed softly and glanced away just briefly. "You've no idea what you tempt and you're too young-"

"Then help me understand. I mean." Kat swallowed and chose her words carefully. "I know she might've hurt you but I'm not trying to drive a wedge or anything."

Nyx tilted his head as he lifted a massive paw and ran it through his hair yet when he pulled back he was holding a small key that looked perfectly mundane in every way except for the static magic sensation Kat could feel even before she reached out to take it. "Where I have eternity, the two of you don't. I've no great concern for the affairs of mortals."

_You're lying._ "O-okay. But what's this?"

"That you will have to find on your own." He shrugged.

"You're not exactly making this easy."

The pupils of his eyes retracted into slits as he shifted his weight back, already beginning to turn away from her.

"Hey. Wait-" Kat stepped forward. "What is she?"

"Hm?"

"What, uh, race. What _is_ she?"

He looked up at her for a moment. She could see the bemusement in his eyes for just a second before he spoke again. "I am and yet can not. I am an idea, yet can rot, I am two but none, I am on land, but on sea. What am I?"

"Uh. . . Okay that's a good one."

"Just think on it." He trotted out through the door. "Your late, by the way."

"Uh? Ah, crap." Kat jogged for the door.


	19. Volume 4: Book Worms: Chapter 3

Chapter 3

"Mister Nyx, how close can you get us?" Bree glanced back as she leaned her weight into the rail. A breeze fluttered through her hair casting her face in a halo of glossy black waves that refused to be tamed by her sweat band.

The ship itself rolled at a slight angle around a thick mushroom stalk into a vast valley that dropped off from the edge forest floor into an abyss of utter darkness. The sun was just starting to set as they began picking up speed heading straight for the sheer drop. Kat swallowed, casting a look between the two and then over the edge of the ship.

"Well, how close do you _want_ to get?" The sphinx stepped on to a particular spot on the deck and suddenly a bright light flashed. Kat looked over to see a transparent sphere take form on the deck and immediately drop half way into the wood creating a bubble centered right on top of him. A multitude of smaller spheres lit into existence around the circumference of the bubble along with seven larger ones nearer the center and one big one set directly in the middle. Smaller spheres filled in any empty space and thin strips of light shot out from it linking each of the major spheres to one another in an increasingly complex web of connections until Kat lost all track of where one began and another ended.

"The closer the better." Bree looked down. "What do you suppose would happen if we threw a rock down there?"

"I doubt we'd hear it hit?" Kat bit her lower lip as they got closer to the cliff edge. "This'll fly over it, right?"

"I suspect we'll see just how deep it is, yes. Now would be a good time, Nyx."

He sighed. "Always in such a rush. This would've been better handled before-"

"Save me the lecture, dear. Our opening is coming up. Which one are we taking?"

Nyx looked at her for just a second with a flash of annoyance in his eyes. Without even looking at the map laid out across the deck, he drew a line from a small sphere to one of the larger ones near the center and a zig zag path through a number of other spheres. After he was done he grabbed the smaller sphere he'd started with and pulled it up off the deck, taking it between both clawed hands he expanded it seeming to take note of something. Abruptly he looked to Bree. "Take the left one."

The ship pitched forward sharply. Kat looked over the edge to see darkness below them. "Oh crap." They plunged straight down though their orientation on the deck kept them from falling forward. A sudden pull of gravity sucked them into the deep heedless to Kat's cry of surprise. They were falling.

Bree hummed a steady tune as the ship cant leftwards at an angle. The horizon disappeared into darkness and they fell faster. There was a sharp jolt that shook the entire vessel almost throwing Kat off her feet despite her iron grip on the rail. Another jolt and the darkness swept up either side of the ship as they plummeted ever faster. In the darkness the only sound was the rushing of air past Kat's face and Bree's humming.

She never stopped humming.

Abruptly the darkness opened up around them and they slipped free from its grasp like the birthing of a new soul from formless nothing. Grey mists rolled over the entire ship, wrapping around it like a blanket that muddled the colors of its pristine wood and silver into a dull sheen. Even Bree's form seemed somewhat indistinct from across the deck. They were still falling but it felt slower somehow. There was no sound of wind rushing past but the oblique sense of gravity pulling them downward kept dragging them through the ethereal mists.

"Where are we?" Kat's voice felt hoarse in her throat.

"Ethereal plane- give me a minute." Nyx replied.

"I love this part." Bree's humming stopped as the ship's weight seemed to shift in reverse, trying to fall upward. Kat looked forward in time to see chunks of a wall each several times bigger than the ship itself fast approaching. They were only inched away from the first of the massive chunks by the time she'd noticed it.

Kat screamed.

Instead of an epic collision, the entire ship jerked to the right out of the path of the wall. It zoomed by creating a gust of wind in its wake but didn't so much as scratch the finish on the wood of the ship. Kat looked up in wonder as they continued their descent.

"It's nothing to worry about!" Bree shouted but it sounded indistinct and muffled.

They pitched upward just slightly at an angle to take a new course and sailed past a group of men and women in strange robes just a few feet off to the side. Kat's heart skipped a beat at the thought of the gaunt men Nyx had abandoned earlier. None of them so much as looked their way.

"Five degrees left at the shark."

"Shark?" Kat looked up and blinked, really paying attention for the first time. All around them, some place beyond the mists, plant and marine life flowed by them; gigantic fish, small fish, turtles and creatures Kat had never seen before went about their daily routines on the other side of the foggy veil. "Woah."

The ship rolled slightly to the left banking into another turn as they passed under a mammoth fish with a pointed nose and powerful body. Kat's jaw felt heavy under the vision but she managed to keep herself focused. "That's really something!"

"Overgrown tuna if you ask me." Nyx replied. "Fifty feet and bank right, upward by three degrees."

"It's attitude." Bree shot back even as the ship began banking early. "Attitude is upward and down pitch."

Nyx glanced at her before murmuring something in Draconic, eliciting a shrug from her.

"Not in my life time, furball."

"I can wait."

Bree opened her mouth as if to say something and glanced at Kat with a soft smile. It was the eerily distant type that Kat had faked enough to know even by casual glance. She shrugged again and pointed forward. "Bonus points if you can tell me what that is, miss Stoneriver."

"Huh?" A shimmering rectangle of pure white stood in front of the ship several hundred paces ahead of them like a giant sheet with no features of its own. As they got closer she could feel the ship speed up a little but something seemed to be dragging on it so it couldn't reach its maximum potential. Kat frowned. "It's a. . . I fell through something like that!"

"Not here, surely?"

"No, I think it was another plane- it's a portal, right?"

"More or less." Bree smiled at her. "You're getting the hang of this."

"Told you, I'm amazing." Kat grinned in return, hoping she didn't sound too pompous. To her relief, the woman laughed.

"Many would claim so, my dear. But as they say, the proof is in the pudding."

The ship strained a little faster to the creaking sound of its own planks as though it was trying to rip itself apart to get through the light. Only a few feet away from the portal, Kat understood why.

To either side of the portal forms were coalescing in the mists. They were humanoid, roughly, with waif like bodies with nothing below the torso. Eyes of amber burned into existence by the hundreds lining either side of the avenue to the portal. The forms took real shape as they stepped from the fringes, running at the ship at full speed. They were slow but Kat was sure they'd make it before the ship would hit the portal.

Bree leaned back casually, smiling. "Not to day, thank you!"

Kat looked forward just in time to see the sheet of pure white sweep over them. They were swallowed into the light in one smooth move that exploded into new awareness. Gears linked by thick pipes turned in every conceivable direction; up, down, left and right around them. The face of each gear held a different landscape proportionate to its size. Some smaller ones looked like islands of desert sand in a sea of otherworldly constructed designs that could take up gears as small as her village or as large as a city. With no evident central point, the gears seemed to be turning one another without any rhyme or reason but they did so with precision that would've given a gnome an aneurysm.

The entire ship slipped downward into a smooth bank with the front turning upward until the entire vessel was at a flat angle. It could have been, anyway. Kat wasn't sure with all the gears turning around them and the various mini cities that turned on the faces of the gears. There was no exact up and down orientation, everything was relative to the cog's place in the greater whole.

"This is incredible." Kat stared in awe.

"Coming through!" A mechanical voice echoed over the deck a second before a triangular shaped construct roared down past them. The ship banked hard to the right, slamming Kat into the rail. She dropped to her knees to keep from falling over and felt the heat from its magical propulsion. The construct disappeared off into the growing darkness below and out of sight, leaving Kat and Bree to look at one another.

"Are you alright, dear?"

"Yeah, I think so." Kat stood up. "So where are we going?"

Bree looked up for a moment then peeked over the edge of the ship. "Ah, there it is."

"How do you do that?"

The ship banked into a wide spiral around an axis that connected several smaller cogs. A few larger ones in the distance spanned hundreds if not thousands of miles across. Some were home to multi-tiered lakes of blue water flowing into one another and others, mountainous ranges ringed with concentric circles. One was a city made of what looked to be bones. "Do what?" Bree glanced back as she adjusted her multi-colored robes.

"You. . . just know things, I guess?"

"Something like that!" She flashed a smile. "I've had time to travel and I was cursed with an exceptionally keen memory."

"Maybe I'll have to give up my title, huh?"

The woman looked over the edge with that lingering smile. "I'm sure you'll have opportunity to keep it, dear."

_At what cost, I wonder._

"Several, if I have anything to say about it." She glanced back at Kat and winked. "Everybody ready because here we go!" The ship turned to the right enough to slip between the open space between a couple of larger cogs and began to slow, nose turning down to set the deck flat underneath them. The perpetual rumble of the ancient machine was almost deafening as it turned only a few feet below the bottom of the vessel but Kat was too awe struck to really care about the noise.

The face of the cog they had stopped on was ringed by green fields that slowly gave way to a brick and mortar. Small buildings no bigger than a house were staggered before larger buildings of two and three stories and further back some reached up to four stories tall. In the center of the cog, however, was the most impressive structure; a castled building decked in white and black banners depicting rolled up scrolls atop spinning gears.

Torch fires and street lights carved allies of luminance through the maze of stone buildings like a snake waiting for its next meal. Kat took in the visage with pursed lips, looking to Bree for direction even as she saw a small family heading in from the field into a house nearest them. For the briefest of moments, she thought she saw her father among the men.

"Excellent." Bree reached into her shoulder bag and withdrew a silk shirt the brightest red Kat had ever seen. "Nyx, be so kind as to fetch mister Vaius? We have work to do."

"And now you think me a dog?"

"Please?" She fluttered her eyelashes theatrically. "You know how he gets."

His shoulders rose and fell as he sighed. "One day, child, you and I are going to have a talk about this arrangement." There was a subtle smirk pulling at his lips when he glanced at Kat before stepping forward. "I sincerely hope you don't think you're going to be able to get out of my wage."

"I wouldn't dream of denying you, silly git." Bree rolled her eyes. "Quickly, now! We've little time to tarry!"

Kat watched the sphinx plod on below deck before looking to Bree. "Um, captain? What's with the red shirt?"

"Just a little insurance. I'd not want you to worry if I get hurt." She tugged it into place and tied the closures, sweeping her hair back to frame her face. Her lips pouted slightly when she looked to Kat, a little smile lighting her eyes with mystery and amusement. "No matter how badly things go, try to remember that we're not leaving without the information we need, hm?"

Kat bit her lower lip. _You really want this thing to work, don't you?_

The woman was still watching her. Her amusement was beginning to turn into suspicion, Kat was sure of it.

"Of course, Captain." She couldn't be a friend. She had to keep focused. She'd find out what they wanted with the relic, she'd find out what it _did_ and she'd take steps to keep it safe. Kat swallowed and nodded. "Yeah."

"Grand!" Bree's smile lit up the night. "Let the show begin."


	20. Volume 4: Book Worms: Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Sheckla was a city much like any Kat had ever been to. Rows of neat and orderly homes lacking many of the accoutrements of village life. At most, a sign denoting an address or list of families living in a building would adorn the front door but there was no _soul_ to ugly stone buildings. Although the fire light from the street lamps was warm, there was an otherworldly chill about the place as though the city was already dead and didn't know it yet.

It reminded her of Arabel.

The three of them skulked along one of the larger avenues past a number of magic shops and glass blowers. Empty fountains dotted the cobblestone path in the process of being cleaned out by men and women no older than Kathrine. Older people occasionally walked from one place to another but none of them paid their little troupe any attention.

They'd passed by a tavern on the way to the avenue that had been burned down, canceling their first destination. The second one, an inn simply known as "Block Six" was only a few hundred feet away when they were stopped by a man in metal armor with a black and white tabbard. Embroidered proudly on the cloth was a rolled up scroll and turning gears. Kat swallowed.

"Hold there." He held up a hand. "Your destination." He looked specifically to Bree, ignoring Kat and Vaius who was busy pulling his hood down. "Your company."

Bree flashed a smile. "And fair eve to you, sirrah. We're heading to the _luxurious _bar named Block Six! And what've yourself, mister. . .?"

He didn't so much as flinch at Bree's smooth voice. Not even when she approached with her back straightened to accent her bust. "Your company. Their names."

"Ah, but of course, how rude of me. This is Tailya, my lyrist." Bree motioned to Kat. She bowed slightly as she'd been told to. "And this is Machettah. Our jongleur."

The man looked them over for a moment. "Your hood. Remove it."

"I don't think that would be a good idea! He's in make up, you see. Light sensitivity against the skull would set his hair positively ablaze if we didn't do it _just_ at the right time! It would spoil our performance entirely!" Bree stepped up beside him, her head held high as though she had every faith she could turn things in their favor. When she finally did get to him he looked at her for a moment. Kat noticed the brief glance at her exposed cleavage.

So did Bree.

"Now then, perhaps after we've finished our performance, we can discuss the finer points of makeup and how it should be applied, hm?" Her arm slid around his back. "And where." She smirked.

The man's gaze lingered on Bree, searching her face for a moment before turning down just slightly to steal another glance at her bust. Her looked to the others and then back to Bree. When he spoke again his voice was softer and less militant than before; it was almost completely hollow as though he wasn't in control of himself. Kat knew what _that_ was like. "Get to your performance before they miss you. It'd be a shame."

Bree slipped back and winked at Kat. "You heard the man, let's be off!"

Kat murmured a thank you as she slipped around the guard and Vaius wasn't far behind. The guard stood there with a dazed look, smiling blithely at nothing in particular. He didn't even acknowledge them as they passed by. Kat swallowed. "How'd you do that?"

"He has good tastes, what can I say."

"That's not what I meant-"

"Trust me when I say it's better you don't know." Vaius murmured.

Bree glanced back at him. "Oh don't be so melodramatic."

"Not a word." The tiefling tapped his lips. "Promise."

Bree slowed her pace to stand beside Kathrine and brought her arm around her shoulders. The warmth was as comforting as it was strong, all consuming yet open enough not to be smothering. Her weight shifted against Kat's side as they walked. She leaned in and kissed her ear with a sultry whisper. "I am many things to many people, dear girl. . . What shall I be to you?"

Kat swallowed as heat welled up on her cheeks. Part of her knew what she wanted the woman to be. Every other part of her, however, knew what she _needed_ to be. She glanced away letting out a shaky breath. "Do you take anything seriously?" She barely managed to choke out.

"Once, yes. Frightfully boring, I'm afraid."

"Kindda like me, huh?"

"_Quite_ the opposite." Her breath warmed against Kat's ear causing her to shiver. "I find myself enraptured by you."

As they approached the double doors to the inn, Kat leaned her weight against the woman in return. Just for a second. She had to know Bree meant what she said even if she _knew_ better. The response was instantaneous; she kissed Kat's ear.

"Business before pleasure, ladies." Vaius warned as he grabbed the door knob.

"Often one and the same, dear." Bree lead them in, still holding Kat's shoulder. The lyre weighing down Kat's backpack felt reassuring in some way. Even if it was a complete lie, it felt good to have _something_ to busy her hands with. She couldn't trust herself around Bree any more.

The ground level of the inn was alive with the sounds of music from a number of different minstrels lined up on either side of a stage at the rear of the room. Scents of spicy foods tickled Kat's nose as a young man walked by carrying four plates heaping with food to a table nearby. The greying men and women nodded their appreciation but didn't seem to pay him much more attention than that.

Kathrine glanced at Bree as she scanned the crowd. When she didn't make any immediate moves, Kat leaned in and whispered. "What does this person look like?"

"Worry not your beautiful mind, my good woman. . . Come." She stepped forward, slipping the lute off her back. Without waiting for an invitation or even a glance from anyone either on the stage or off it, she lead Kat and Vaius right up to the side entrance. Kat stopped before Bree could take the first stair.

"You're not serious."

"Haven't we already gone over this?" She glanced at Kat. "Only one set, dear-"

"I don't know how to play this thing!" Kat wispered harshly as she held up the lyre.

"Firstly, you're holding it wrong." Bree adjusted her grip placing her hands in the proper position. Before Kat could object again, the woman leaned in and brushed her cheek with her ear so she could murmur so softly only the two of them would know what was said. "I want to see you dance, priestess. You needn't know the steps to know the soul of the rhythm. For surely, it will belong to no one but you. . . Hm?"

Kat exhaled a long breath. "I- I don't know how to dance-" She swallowed, looking up at the stage. This was a disaster waiting to happen and they both knew it. Why was it, then, that Kat couldn't object more? She _wanted_ to do it, she wanted to see what would happen.

She didn't want to make a fool of herself, though.

Bree pulled back slightly. Her pale eyes flashed with a mix of annoyance and patience. "We're here for a reason, dear."

"You're throwing me to the wolves-"

"Of course not." One of the men at the tables near the stage glanced over at them, offering a smile. Bree smiled in return before she looked to Kat. There was warmth in her voice but her smile was fading quickly. "Your faith in yourself is something we'll have to work on but I assure you, dear Kathrine, once your hips begin to move there will be no one in this room who can look away from you." Her voice purred the words across Kat's ears like a sweet mead. "Not even I."

Kat swallowed and hugged the lyre to her chest as she bit into her lower lip. "I- I can't do this- I don't even know how to. . ."

"That doesn't sound at all like the woman who's so thoroughly captured my attention." A slender finger grazed her chin, caressing her skin with only the faintest touch and drawing forth a whimper from deep within Kat's throat. In response Bree's lips brushed against her ear again. "I have the utmost faith in you-" She switched to Sylvan "_Tealoya_." _One who can breathe life from nothing._

Kat's body felt stiff and unused. She didn't have the dexterity of a dancer, she didn't even know how to dance but Bree's faith in her. . . Could she really? It was confusing to have someone like her believe in anything Kat could do, yet she'd spelled it out plainly; she _believed_ in her. How could she let her down now? Her body quivered at Bree's touch and she turned her head up when Bree's finger pushed gently against her chin.

Pale blue eyes watched her with absolute conviction and dedication framed by locks of glistening black hair. Her perfectly pouted lips pulled up into a smile as Kat leaned in subconsciously. She knew she had Kat and Kat knew she couldn't say no. She would've moved the heavens and hells at Bree's whim. Such was her right to demand it.

Such was Kat's right to obey.

"Now, I have been longing to see that body move. Will you join me?" She offered her hand with a smile.

Kathrine took her hand without thinking and followed her up to the stage. Under the bright light the crowd looked indistinct and hazy as though looking on through frosted glass. The subtle pull of her presence drew Kathrine's attention and for a moment the entire world around her felt like a long lost memory that she never wanted to hear from again. That was alright with her, though.

Bree was speaking with a voice that was pulling even the attention of everyone in the building. She was sure of it. She was a lit candle in a dark room; beholden to no one yet irresistible to all but the blind. She was the one who would illuminate the pressing solitude and bring forth light.

There were flashes of music in her mind; a steady pounding drum, a crystalline chime, a high tempo'd flute. Somewhere in the distance was a lyre being played with skill. But all Kat could hear. All she could _feel_ was an angel singing beside her, taking the very essence of the heavens to the stage and wrapping Kathrine up in it. It was fast. It was slow. It was gentle and it was _her_.

She blinked and she saw a stream of people moving tables aside. Her voice echoed through the room in celebration as she hopped down from the stage, tossing something down. Bree was in the center of the floor offering her hand. She was smiling.

Another second slipped by and Kathrine could see the bright purple and red of Bree's vest and shirt moving through the dancing crowd. They were dancing in the middle of the group, arm in arm, spinning in silence as if the world was theirs. Yet she was slinking through the dancers around them. She took a place at a table beside a man.

"Excuse me, is this seat taken?"

"Huh?" Kat blinked and looked up at the man's voice. He was kind looking, patient. He looked like her father or at least familiar.

Her body ached. Her thighs were burning and her feet throbbed. She was coated in sweat and a bottle of water was clenched between her hands on the table. She leaned back in the chair, rubbing her eyes. "Uh. . . N- no, please. Uh-"

"Is everything alright?" He slipped into the chair opposite her. "You look flustered."

"I- Don't-" Kat looked to her left to see Bree and Vaius dancing on the stage with one another. The center of the bar room had been cleared out and other patrons danced arm in arm to the tempo of the supporting minstrels lining the rear of the stage.

"You're quite the dancer, miss. . .?"

She blinked. "N- Not really."

"Miss Not Really?" When she looked at him he smiled reassuringly as he clasped his hands. Once he was sure he had her attention he lowered his voice. "My name's Markus. What's yours?"

"K- Kathrine."

"You keep very interesting company, miss Kathrine."

Her throat felt parched. She was missing time and her body hurt and this man was trying to get into Bree's skirt? What the hell had happened? "Yeah- uh- I'm sorry. . . What did you say your name was?" She closed her eyes trying to center herself. She could answer her questions after she got rid of him.

"My name is Markus Mytel. An agent of the Earthmother, Chauntea."

Or maybe not.

"Uh. Nice to meet you, mister Mytel. Um. Kathrine Stoneriver, a priestess in service to Chauntea." She swallowed at his appraising glance. He didn't linger on any place but she could feel his gaze sizing her up. It was a fatherly expression but Kat still squirmed. "What can I do for you?"

His large hand came to rest atop hers. "You're shaking. Are you alright?"

"Yeah. I- I-. . . I'll be alright." She stole a sip of her water. "Just kindda not sure what just happened. So what can I do for you?"

"Oh it's not me, miss Stoneriver. It's our Lady. She needs your help."

Kat stared at the man for a long moment. The words were sobering and humbling but could she believe this stranger? Maybe she could. But what could She possibly need from Kathrine? She licked her lips, almost afraid to ask. "H- how?"

The man opened his mouth as if to speak but stopped himself, glancing up over Kat's shoulder. She followed his gaze to see Bree approaching from behind her. Before she got much closer he whispered. "Our Lady has taken an interest in you, priestess. Think of me as the messenger of Her desires. She wishes to see you become one of us-"

"Kathrine, you were _magnificent_." Bree's voice rose just a little as she neared the booth. "And who's your friend here?"

"Just leaving, ma'am." He inclined his head. "Pleasant eve. Ah, and great show by the way."

"Why, thank you. Be sure to tip your server, hm?"

"Naturally." He bowed his head to Kat before turning on his heel. "Thank you for the conversation, priestess. I'm sure we'll meet again."

Bree slipped down into a seat beside Kat and pressed her warmth against her as she brought an arm around her lower back. Without a moment's hesitation she pressed her cheek to Kat's. "I seldom travel to the higher planes but what I've seen tonight might yet restore my faith in the gods' perfection. Surely you're part celestial. . . No devil _I _know could move like that."

Kat tensed. "What did you do to me?" Her grip tightened on the jar of water. "I don't remember-"

"It happens quite frequently. You were swept up in the music, dear."

"Hey, wait. Devil _you_ know?" She started to turn but Bree's lips stopped her. Before she knew it they were sharing a breath with her lips pressed gently to Kat's. She was confident but gentle. Commanding and yet gracious enough to back off when Kat didn't respond right away. It was a small mercy but it meant a lot. "What do you mean by that?"

"Suffice it to say, I've fought off the temptations of many a succubi in my time, hm?"

"Incubi too?"

Bree licked her lips still watching Kat as though she was the only person in the room. "You pose interesting quandaries, you know that? It's been so very long since I've honestly felt challenged." Her smile lit up her face. "No, sweetest Kathrine, I've never participated in anything so debase as that." Her hand ran down Kat's back reassuringly. Much to her surprise, Kat leaned into her without thinking about it. "Now then. I've had a chance to talk to my associate who's agreed to help us get into the Archives."

"Oh?" Kat felt her tension begin to ebb the longer Bree stroked her back. Despite this, she still reached down to rub at her burning legs. "That's good."

"Everything alright, dear?"

"Yeah. I'm just out of shape."

Bree's left hand came across her lap to rest atop Kat's thigh. Kat froze just a moment, forcing a breath into her lungs as she glanced at the woman out of the corner of her eye. The hand turned just slightly and kneaded into the muscle with enough pressure to begin loosening it almost right away. "Shape is something you're far from lacking, my dearest Kathrine."

Kat closed her eyes and bit into her lower lip. She had to remain focused. She was coming on like a torrent and Kat's only refuge was the deepest corners of her mind that were screaming at her about the artifact. Oh but her body hurt. It wanted to relax and be taken care of. What was wrong with that?

Bree nibbled her earlobe. Kat groaned softly and gave in, slumping in the seat. The massage continued for a couple of moments longer before the woman's hand slid down to her knee. "When we get back to the ship, we can continue this, hm?"

Relic. Needed to focus.

"Yesplease." Kat whimpered.

Focus indeed.


	21. Volume 4: Book Worms: Chapter 5: End V4

Author's Note:

So ends Volume 4. I'm going to be taking a short 2-3 day break to recharge my batteries but if you like or don't like this new style, please for the love of all that is holy -let me know-. I sincerely hope those of you who're reading this enjoy it and will stick around for Volume 5: "Dangerous Game"

Chapter 5

"You're seriously going in like that." The older man studied the group as he ran his hand through his greasy hair. It struggled to keep his skull covered in the center and under the muted light from the street lamp. "I've got respect for ya, Bree, but don't you think it's a bit of an invitation to look at yer chest?"

"You mean like you've been doing?" She smiled lightly. "I can take care of things once we get inside. Worry not."

Kat hugged her arms over her own chest when she thought the man was glancing her way. His gaze fell to the floor of the tiny room for a moment. "Yeah, alright. Come on. . ."

The man was taller than Vaius but solidly built; squared off shoulders, a stomach that said he probably enjoyed Chauntea's bounty a bit too much. He didn't give off the creepy vibe but something still felt slightly _off_ about him. He seemed skittish in some way that Kat couldn't quite understand. Surely Bree couldn't have missed it. Maybe that's why she was being slightly cool to him.

They followed him out of the inn room, downstairs and into the basement without the bartender so much as acknowledging their presence. The room itself was spacious and temperature controlled to a balmy warmth that, Kat imagined, helped the casks of wine ferment their contents. She licked her lips at the thought.

"The invitation is open to you, yes." Bree whispered and cast a glance her way.

"Huh?"

"Nothing dear." She smirked.

Vaius tugged his hood down a bit lower to shade his face but it couldn't hide the smirk. Kat blushed. _Invitation. Right._

"Sorry to disappoint, I had my mind elsewhere."

"I'm sure."

The pudgy man stooped at the rear most section of wall and pulled tiny, almost invisible string from between a pair of bricks. No thinking person would've seen it if they didn't know it was there. But then that was the entire point, wasn't it? Kat swallowed as he pulled the hatch open.

She could smell the acidic stench of the sewer even before he'd finished opening it but as soon as the door hit the top of its arc, the smell faded into a mercifully tame scent that reminded Kat of cows. It was bearable this way even if not ideal.

"You're going to go down a few hundred paces and take a right. It'll be the first grate on the left- takes you right to the sleeping quarters."

"You're not coming?" Vaius glanced at him and then to Bree with a slightly concerned expression.

"You said get you there. Didn't say nothin about breaking in. I'm gettn too old for that life. . . 'sides. I got a wife t'think about these days. Gave her my word I wouldn't get into trouble no more. You know how it goes." He gave Bree a long look as if silently pleading.

She looked at him for a moment and shrugged. "I'm sure your children will remember your mistakes should they be made tonight, hm?" He stiffened. She smiled slightly. "In we go!"

Kat pursed her lips, watching his eyes follow her as she ducked into the dingy sewer. There was genuine fear in his gaze and a certain _knowing_ that set the hairs on the back of Kat's neck on end. What was it about this woman that could inspire that reaction in people, not with a sharp sword or loud voice but a whisper and a smile?

The sewers themselves were composed of heavy stone paths that lined either side of a shallow slit trench that carried waste off into the gloom only to be filled once more with fresh water. The smell was even more sedate once Kat was actually crossed the threshold.

"I- I'm sure it'll be just fine. Just follow the directions, you'll see."

"Will do! It was good to see you again!"

The hatch slammed shut in response and plunged the entire corridor into utter darkness. Kat muttered to herself even before she ran into Vaius. "Oof. Sorry." She whispered. His slender hand touched her shoulder and then her bicep, sliding down her arm to take his hand. They followed Bree's unerring lead until they came to the corner he'd told them about.

"Bets on him selling us out?" Vaius whispered.

"Fifty coin and a back massage."

"Deal."

"Kathrine?"

"Y- Yeah?"

"Two to one odds?"

Kat frowned. "You guys really don't take anything seriously, do you? If he did-"

"You're over thinking things, dear. Start with the assumption that you're going to be sold out and everything just gets easier from there."

"What about Nyx, though?"

"He can take care of himself. The ship, too." Bree paused for a moment. "Ah. Here we are." They started forward again. Kat's heart beat in her throat. They were really going to do this, weren't they? They were going to break into this place and steal everything they could. But it was for a _good_ reason, wasn't it? Kat swallowed when they stopped. She opened her mouth to speak but stopped when she heard a some metallic clicking that sounded like bolts being snapped in two.

_It could've been a hundred different things. _Kat warned herself even as a creaking sound broke the stillness. Vaius lead her through the gate into a cramped chamber only to have Bree push them both to the side. Kathrine caught a flash of movement in her vision right before she heard foot falls on something metal. It sounded like a ladder.

A moment later a spear of light cut through the darkness from a trap door above them. Bree was pushing it up with one hand, just far enough to see. She waited a moment. And another. "Up we go." She whispered as she pushed the trap door up enough to fit through.

Kat was right behind her, accidentally stealing a glance up her skirt. She looked away quickly enough but the image of her powerful legs had seared itself into her mind. _Focus._ She slipped through the door into a rectangular room with several bunk beds lining either side. In the center were a few throw rugs including the one that had covered the door. The room itself was spartan with only a writing desk in the corner to break up the monotony of the stone walls.

A man was sleeping in one of the bunks completely heedless to their intrusion. Kat swallowed and glanced at Bree for direction. She in turn looked at the man and held up a finger.

Vaius, meanwhile, took up a position near the single door opposite their entrance to keep an eye on it. He motioned Kat to follow and pointed to the opposite side. With a soft murmur he leaned in. "Did you prepare those sleep spells she asked for?"

"Yeah."

"Good girl."

"What's she doing?" She looked over to see Bree murmuring into the man's ear. After a couple of seconds she gave him a gentle shake and placed a hand on his chest. His eyes shot open and she leaned over him blocking his face from Kat and Vaius.

"Probably asking for directions."

"Hey-" She licked her lips. "I know it's not the best time to ask but do you know _what_ she is?"

"What she is? What do you mean?"

"Like what race she is?"

"Oh. . ." He glanced after her and shrugged. "I think she's an Aasimar. Why?"

"But you don't _know._"

"Not really been an issue. . ."

"Found it." Bree appeared at their side seemingly out of nowhere. Kat jumped. She smiled. "Yes, hello to you too." Her arm hooked around Kat's waist. "The library is right upstairs. The Artifacts and Relics section is in the northeastern corner."

Kat leaned back to peek around Bree's shoulder. The man was facing away from them snoring soundly. Some part of her was relieved he was alive but she was all the more curious how Bree had managed to find out the information. When she looked to Bree the woman winked.

"He's also hung like a bull."

"No he isn't, he's right there-" Kat blinked. "Oh, _come on_."

Bree's hand slipped to Kat's butt and patted it before giving it a firm, possessive squeeze. Kat bit into her lower lip but she couldn't bring herself to get mad. "Never change, dear. You're_ far_ too much fun. This way, then!" She stepped right up to the door and pulled on the handle as though it were the most obvious thing in the world to do. Like they _weren't_ sneaking around. "Your notion was right about the wards, by the way. Shame they don't have it inside, hm?" She winked at Kat.

"They don't?"

"Not a one."

Kat glanced at the sleeping man again before they walked through the door into an expansive hallway lined with marble pillars and an intricate stone stair case to the far right that spiraled up in opposite directions to the second story balcony. Massive double doors to the left had been opened just slightly showing the empty street beyond. Within the chamber a wide blue carpet swept through the center of the floor flanked on either side by square marble tiles that glistened in the flickering light from the candelabras.

It didn't occur to her until they were starting up the steps that there was no one around. She was just about to mention it when Bree glanced back and motioned them to follow her in a straight line. And then Kat understood why.

A man walked by her. She could feel his presence tickling the fringe of her consciousness and only when he was practically touching her could she hear his footsteps. She froze. Vaius pushed her forward gently. They followed Bree up the stairs, passing a couple of others who seemed every bit as oblivious to them as they were to the world around them.

They continued up around the spiraling stair case until they got to the door above the sleeping quarters. It opened just slightly at Bree's approach before she even had a chance to touch it. Kat tried to press herself against the wall thinking there was someone nearby but the door continued opening to allow her entry. Not once did she pause as she marched them into the library.

The library itself took up more space than the building could have realistically contained and the moment she passed through the doors, Kat could feel the tingle of magic that told her they weren't necessarily on the same plane any more. If they were, it was probably some kind of morphic trait that the builders had designed into the structure.

Bookshelves lined the walls up several stories before arching inward to meet the domed ceiling. Rune signs divided sections of the library into topics like philosophy, planar history, agriculture and a multitude of others Kat really had no interest in. Square pillars with extrusions had been set up every fifteen paces and pulsed with a glowing blue light that flared up to almost blinding the moment Bree came within five paces.

It was surreal to see the pillars light and fade as Bree lead them through the center isle. Shadows danced in the void of her wake, speared through by the next pillar when she approached. If anyone was in the library at the time, surely they'd have seen it. Why weren't they being stopped?

"There you are. Miss Stoneriver, if you'd be so kind?" She motioned to the corner under a sign marked Marvels and Relics.

Kat bit into her lower lip hard enough to turn the skin white from lack of blood flow. But she complied. The tomes were ancient and musty and stretched for what felt like hundreds of feet above her head. How could she possibly find what she was looking for in all of this?

"Mister Vaius, you know your role."

"Right." Vaius broke off to a smaller section of the racks out of Kat's line of sight.

All the while Bree watched her with a patient, almost motherly expression. "Would you like a hand, dear?"

Of course she did. But if Bree knew what Kat did, that meant she could probably figure out whatever it was Kat was going to find before she could. "No, I'll uh. . . Oh, here we go." She picked up a random book and flipped through it quickly before replacing it. "How much time do we have?"

"As much as we need, my dearest Kathrine. Do it once. Do it right."

Kat glanced over to see the woman clasping her hands behind her back standing only a few feet away. She was busy browsing the scroll racks. Just beyond her a couple of books slid free from the shelf and floated into a position as though someone was carrying them. Kat pursed her lips and went back to her shelf. She was quick, she had to be. Of the dozens of books, even at eye level very few of them were directly related to artifacts of Oghma and fewer still seemed to have anything to do with amulets. After the fiftieth book Kat exhaled her frustration.

"Kathrine." Bree was holding out her shoulder bag. "Take what looks important. We can sort out the who's and what's later. You might want to start from the top, though."

"Huh? How'm I gonna get up there, though?"

"You _are_ a mage, right?" She smiled, teasing.

"Yeah but that's kindda not something I do. I'm not really a fan of-"

Bree motioned dismissively. Following the gesture from her hand a ladder rolled along rails Kat hadn't seen to stop right before her. She saw another ladder roll along the opposite side with Vaius pushing off along the rails with a stack of books piled on top of the metal 'wings' on either side of the ladder meant for holding materials. They threatened to spill off as he rolled to a stop under a section titled for Draconic Artifacts.

Kat looked up at him for a moment before she took to the ladder and scampered up to the top. The very first book she found was aptly titled: "_Divine Artifacts of the All Knowing One_".

It couldn't have been more than ten minutes before Bree lost interest in the scrolls and books around the library, feigning an interest in the glowing pillars who's light now filled the entire library as though it was a summer day. Kat's search had expanded to include a couple dozen other titles relating to the nature of divine artifacts and their effects along with ways to potentially stunt their power. With her stack of books chosen she began working her way down the ladder, placing them neatly in a pile in the center.

Bree watched her peripherally as she poked and prodded the glowing pillar, eliciting a _crack_ of electricity from it now and then when her finger stabbed at the runes. As Kathrine unloaded the fruits of her research, the woman picked a few books off the shelf to add to the pile along with Vaius's own and eventually grabbed a few scrolls seemingly at random, throwing them atop the stack. "This'll do nicely. Good work."

"How're we going to get all this stuff-"

"You're carrying it." She motioned to the shoulder bag she'd given Kathrine with a smile. "Quickly now, unless you've anything to finish?"

"Uh. Okay?"

There was a short pause before she spoke again. "You _are_ a mage, aren't you?"

"Yes, but I'm a priest first?"

"And you've never seen a Bag of Holding before. . .?"

"A bag-" Her cheeks burned. "O- Of course! Sure. . . Oops."

"Atagirl." Vaius smirked as Kat slipped the first book into the bag. The small leather bag didn't expand with the increased girth of the book or even the third. By the time she had all the books in, the leather still hadn't moved a hair's breadth out of its original size nor had it gained any significant weight. Supposedly Bags of Holding were common if top tier equipment for those with exceptionally deep pockets or those who were very fortunate to chance across them. Kat had to wonder which Bree was. But then maybe she didn't need to know.

No. She really didn't.

Once all the books were in place, Kat looked about. "Sure no one'll see us?"

"Let them wonder." Bree turned on her heel with a little smile.

Wonder. This was all just one big game to her, wasn't it? Kat slung the shoulder bag when the woman started towards the door. In the end it almost seemed as everyone around them were as insignificant as ants to her splendor. In some ways they were. But how was it she could make herself and those with her invisible to the outside world _and_ the outside world invisible to her? Was that somehow representative of her world view? More importantly, how could Kat counteract it?

It had to have been magic. Some kind of advanced illusion that could've probably been defeated by a True Seeing spell or a Disjunction of some sort. But the real issue, aside from logistics, was the issue of casting it. Bree hadn't uttered a single word just like she hadn't when she opened the portal for the ship. And then there was the issue of the inn which still made no sense.

What in the Nine Hells was going on here?

Kat swallowed her questions as they trotted down the stairs with their ill-gotten goods. She'd find a way to return them as soon as time permitted but the relic was too important. If she was at least seen to be cooperative she could probably keep going until she knew for sure what Bree had intended. And if she was being honest with herself, she wanted to know what this thing could do too.

Bree sauntered up to the double doors at the front of the compound and pushed one forward. The marble underneath had been inscribed with a set of runes that were clearly visible even without magic augmentation. They were dispelling and anti-scrying runes that should have broke Bree's spell in an instant. Instead, the woman pushed the door open and stepped right into the cool night air without breaking stride.

A pair of men were standing outside dressed in full regalia watching over the half dozen men and women traversing the thoroughfare from one home to another or from shop window to window speaking quietly about prices or some other mundane affair.

No one even cast a glance their way or even stop to wonder about the door opening seemingly on its own. Bree must've felt Kat's questioning stare on her. She glanced back and winked as they started down the marble steps. No sooner did they hit the cobbles than one of the guards reached over and closed the door as though it happened all the time. Kat glanced up then to Bree, whispering. "You're a strange one."

"Oh, dear, you have _no_ idea." She waggled her eyebrows playfully.

For some reason, Kat smiled.

# # # #

"And here I was going to give you up as casualties of the Ink Monster." Nyx hopped off the prow of the ship where he'd been curled up. "Did you find what you were looking for?"

"Yeah, I think so." Kat looked to the sky, watching the incredible gears turn in every direction around the city. As far as the eye could see the individual islands amidst the featureless void were each designed to reflect the needs of a specific inhabitant race or group of races with very few, if any, being similar to one another. It boggled the mind trying to imagine the number of colonies that were hovering out in the darkness with only the edges of the cogs to bring them together. In some way it reminded her of her life.

_That's kind of sad, actually._ She sighed.

Vaius flipped his hood back. "Hm?"

"Nothing. We should get out of here before they know stuff's missing."

"Quite so-"

"Hey!" A man called from the balcony of the second story house they had docked the ship behind. "Good to see you're okay! Did you find what you were looking for?" Kat had to strain to make out his features as the ship began a gradual pull back away from the house.

"Consider us even!" Bree clasped her hands together, leaning over the rail. "And give your wife my regards, you're in better hands."

He paused for the briefest of moments. "Why don't you come celebrate. For old time's sake?"

"Old times, before or after you tried to kill me?"

"Times change! It was just business!"

"So is this."

Nyx and Vaius glanced at each other. "He sold us out, didn't he?" Nyx muttered. Vaius nodded.

"Just remember what I said." Bree waved once. The man paled. "You know _I_ keep to my word."

"But- hey!" The ship pulled back a bit faster and started a wide turn around the edge of the block before beginning an ascent until it was almost clear of the city's skyline. From somewhere down below the man shouted after them. "You're still beautiful!"

Bree chuckled into a soft laugh that was so melodic, Kat almost lost herself in it's valleys and peaks. She looked at Kat, still smiling. "Marriage is terrible business, isn't it?" The ship turned slightly towards the way they'd come.

Kat frowned and opened her mouth to reply but her voice died on her lips when she saw the first mastless ship floating at the edge of the cog. It backed up into her throat when she saw the other fifty behind it.

Bree, noticing Kat's stare looked over her shoulder at the armada. "Oh. Vaius, be a dear and fetch me my brown pants."

_3/4/1381 (Relative)_

"_I lay awake at night sometimes, hugging my pillow to my chest and wondering. Not about anything in particular, aside from the obvious things; am I doing what She wants me to; am I a good person in relation to what my parents wanted for us; how can I be a better priest. . ._

_It comes down to a couple simple things, I think. A willingness and a strong desire to _be _more than you are right now and following a specific code of conduct where others might fall short._

_For me, it's our family values. They always meant the most to me growing up, and my father ensured I could recite them without thinking about it from a very early age. Then he spent the rest of his life showing me how to live them._

_I think that's the one gift I can never really thank him enough for. He mortgaged the farm, put us all into debt and sold our produce at cut rate prices to pay for my tutor so I could learn how to manipulate The Weave and wield magic. But in the end, it's not that power which I find myself thankful for, but the simple and timeless gift of having our family's heart written into my soul._

_Duty: To family, friends and community._

_Strength: Even in the face of adversity. _

_Love: Moreso when things pull you apart. _

_Courage: To do what -is- right. Not what's convenient. _

_Sanctity: Spirit, mind and body. So no one can corrupt you._

_Thanks, dad._

_It's been three days since my last drink."_

-Diary of Kathrine Stoneriver


	22. Volume 5: Dangerous Game: Chapter 1

Chapter 1

_3/3/1381 (Relative)_

"_I remember, not so fondly, when the Zhentarim came to Eveningstar to fortify a position outside of the village. They came with strong men in full platemail glinting in the morning starlight; wizards carrying staves that would make a War Wizard jealous To top it all off, they were seasoned with experience; lines drawn across their face with combat. and the blood of others. _

_The clatter drew out adventurers one by one. Before long, they outnumbered the Purple Dragons that'd stepped forward to defend the village. Paladins, soldiers, priests and mages among them, they would appear, by all rights, to be a shield against slavery and evil itself. The two groups stood before one another._

_The Zhentarim were protecting their embassy, so they claimed. They would not be moved. . . It was at that point Lord Winter ordered the Purples to retreat to fortify the village. They outnumbered the Zhentarim, all of them together. They _could_ have stopped it there._

_Instead, I watched as good men turned away; I saw _paladins_ turn in supplication. Priests lead the march back. The crowd grew more sparse and I stood there, trying to get them to stop. My feet were planted; I couldn't leave. I _wouldn't._ Not with my family having tilled the soil for so long and now buried within it. This was our home. This was _my_ home._

_I was given the ultimatum to leave or be treated as an enemy combatant. One of their men stepped forward, pulling on his gloves. "Do you want to die, girl?" I. . . I don't remember what I said. I know I couldn't pull the words from my throat. The disbelief hit me like a slap in the face and I still feel the sting even now. These men, these supposed chosen of their god had abandoned what it was they were meant for and here I was- a piddling nobody- standing in front of them._

_Jezebel I never expected to help but it still hurt knowing she was so close yet wouldn't have lifted a finger. It was I, and I alone, that stood in front of them when it was all or nothing and it was _my_ spells that brought their chosen to the dirt our family had lived for._

_It wasn't about who could do what or proving anything to anyone. It was what anyone should have done that day. What kind of person can be still when people cry for help? Now of those same people, who will raise their voice when the enemy is still before the strike?_

_Somehow, though, they can band together when their self-prescribed enemy doesn't wear a human face. They can taunt and poison and attempt to subjugate monsterous races that make the gods blessed attempt to become more than their blood dictates they should be. What of those that call for the death of a 'monster' who repeatedly refuses to attack them? They need to take a serious look in the mirror. Is that voice one of conviction or convenience?_

_Well?_

_It's been one minute since my last drink."_

-Diary of Kathrine Stoneriver

They were surrounded.

Fifty ships as big or bigger than Bree's own floated silently through the void like sharks who'd caught sight of movement. Catapults served as fins for some of the larger vessels, cocked back and ready to unleash their payload at a moment's notice. Those without them were patrolled by men and women in robes who'd already begun incantations of their own. Energy swirled about their arms and even the decks of their decks seemed to have a faint glow to them.

"Oh." Bree's full lips pouted as she gave the gathering a look. "Vaius, be a dear and bring me my brown pants."

There was a silent pause where even Kathrine's heart refused to beat for fear of being the instrument that unleashed so much pent up energy. In the distance, beyond the gathering of ships, Mechanus's endless series of gears churned out the precise tick of a passing second that lasted for eternity.

And at once everything erupted.

A string of magic lightning arced through the distance in the blink of an eye and splattered against the deck of the ship only feet from Bree. The woman didn't so much as bat an eye as the vessel pitched to the right sharply almost banking into a sideways turn. The angle exposed the left side of the hull to bombardment which the opposing ships were too happy to oblige.

Kat was about to say something when the first rock slammed into the hull. A deep, resounding _thud_ echoed through the wood, vibrating Kat's teeth. She clutched the rail tightly only now realizing the reason for the turn. A quick peek over the side showed a massive crater right where the boulder hit. Right where Kat had been standing.

"Mister Nyx." Bree said with an eerie calm. "Find us an exit, would you?"

The sphinx had been hunched down in preparation to launch at the attackers but instead he swept his wings back and without even glancing at her, he drew up the floating map on the deck.

The ship listed at a wider angle to start a wide spiral above the city. Bree's hands came to rest on the prow when they came around to face the ships. Kat's fingers felt numb. Her legs throbbed and her mind reeled. There had to have been more than fifty. She'd been wrong. They were closing in on them now in a wide semi-circle leaving their only possible escape to the rear.

"We're being herded!" Kat glanced back. The skies were empty save for the gears of the massive machine plane.

"Very astute!" Bree smiled back at her. Why was she so calm?

The ship picked up speed heading straight for them with it's prow nose down just slightly.

_Oh, no. _"You can't be serious!"

Even Vaius grabbed the rail. "Oh, dammit." In another breath he was scrambling for the hatch down below deck.

"I'm a sucker for deep penetration." The woman clasped her hands behind her back. Head held high. She didn't flinch when another lightning bolt snapped over their head. "Nyx! An exit?"

Kat glanced back to see the creature drawing lines in the glowing map. He turned it over in his paw a couple times. Too slow. They were going too slow. _He_ was going too slow.

The ship sped up a bit more and jerked just slightly to the side. A deep _thump_ cracked in front of Kat. She looked forward again just in time to see a boulder tumbling downward to the city below. It flattened a smaller house near the edge. Kat winced. "Those poor people-"

"While I appreciate your concern for your fellow man, my good priestess. . ." Bree trailed off when six independent bursts of blue energy erupted amidst the ships and took flight. At first they were a pulse; a faint glow in the void. As they approached their forms became clear. Each of the six glows fanned out into four more pulses in the form of short snakes no longer than Kat's forearm. Their approach was slow but deliberate. They fanned out wider the closer they came. "I do hope you've a healing blessing or two prepared."

Kat launched off from the rail at a dead sprint towards the woman. She slid her hand into the hem of her skirt, pulling out a small wand that was still warm to the touch even after a week of being left unused. It was nearly out of charges, she knew it, but there might've been enough to take care of the woman and the sphinx.

No sooner did she have her wand than she was eclipsed by a shadow from behind. It sailed over the deck like a predator about to pounce on its prey. Kat looked up in time to see a construct, faintly humanoid but trailing smoke where it's legs should have been, roaring over them towards Nyx. The sphinx noticed too. He launched up to meet the challenger head on.

The ship's back end dropped slightly and it slowed but continued moving forward. Bree glanced over her shoulder at Nyx and the construct and then forward again. A couple steps behind, Kat tapped her with the wand and activated it by reflex. The shimmering full body bubble sparked to life around her an instant before the blue snakes crossed the prow and would have slammed into her. Instead they punched into the Shield and dissolved in a spectacular display of light and magical energy.

Bree gave a slight nod in thanks. A mechanical arm hit the deck behind Kat and slapped into her leg. She looked up to see Nyx holding the construct with his forepaws and pushing off with his rear, sending the husk of the thing off into the darkness.

"Hault!" A young man's voice shattered the moment of stillness. It was everywhere and nowhere. "By the order of the Church of Oghma, you will stand down-"

"I seem to have misplaced my attention span. Please excuse me while I go find it. You broke the agreement." Bree whispered to no one in particular. "Nice hair by the way, I take it your Loremaster wasn't happy with my answer?" She tsked.

Kat squinted, looking at the ship in front of the others. It was a small one, light and conceivably maneuverable. Standing on the deck of it was a young man in a sharp looking military suit. His hair was cut much shorter than Kat remembered him but the recognition was instantaneous. He had been the man that had tried to set up Bree in the ambush.

"There'll be a time when we both get tired of doing this. Shall we make it now or later?" Bree whispered again as the ship leveled out. Nyx landed on the deck and went back to the map.

"This is your last warning. Stand down or you will be destroyed."

"Not today, thank you!"

"Fifty sixth north. Up by ten degrees and to the right by five." Nyx grumbled. "You won't like it but it won't be here."

"Good enough."

Kathrine swallowed when the ship tilted downward just slightly. At once, it drove forward like a spike being hammered into a tree. Faster and faster, the massive wooden vehicle plowed through the empty space between them. A number of spells arced across the sky. More magic missiles. Another lightning bolt. A fireball. All aiming directly at the polished wood ship.

Kat clenched her hands. There'd be no way to prevent whatever damage they might do but she couldn't just stand there and let it happen. She exhaled sharply and focused her mind. Picking out targets even as the spells pounded into the ship she worked it out in her mind's eye. Distance, trajectory, time. She had it all in an instant. Her mentor had prepared her for combat as best she could and she'd seen enough of it to know when to act. All she needed was an opening.

The power of the ship's thrust became indomitable. Lightning and fire exploded across the hull sending sparks and embers into the air. They were trailing the static crackle of raw magic behind them like a firecracker counting down its final seconds before it would explode. In the multicolored trail burning behind them one could have easily seen the three of the occupants on the deck holding tight.

Her opening came without warning.

She saw a man in a brown coat on one of the smaller ships wrestling control of it from its female captain. He turned the ship at a sideways angle and plowed it into one of the larger ships nearby. The collision threw the wizard who'd been casting at them off balance and over the rail into oblivion. "Hey!" Kat shouted. It's that man from the bar!"

"Yes, remind me to send him a fruit basket."

The ships tightened their formation creating a wall of cocked catapults and more mages than Kat could count. Kat began the incantation. Aimed roughly where the ship was going to pass through and let it go. The energy swirled into being around the central ship and a darkness exploded around it so dark not even light from the casting mage could break it.

The man in the coat slammed his ship into another one and started at a sharp upward angle to ram into one above them. Kat began another preparation of Darkness while Bree increased their speed even more. Only ten paces from the lead ship, Kat let loose with the other Darkness aimed squarely at the small group of ships in front of them.

Chaos erupted in the ranks of the vessels as they tried to get away from the darkness before Bree's ship drilled a hole through it. Some crashed into others in their haste. Others simply drifted away but got caught up in the panic of the less disciplined captains. Splinters took to the air and the soft crack of wood hitting wood echoed throughout the sky like a forest of trees being felled in rapid succession.

Bree's ship sped up even more, creating a buffeting wind that swept her hair back behind her shoulders. They flew through the black hole Kat's spell had made and went blind in the inky darkness. In another instant they were through it and on the other side. The ship turned upward at a dizzying pitch that threatened to throw Kat off her feet. She grabbed the rail, hard. "Holy crap, holy crap, holy crap-"

The vessels not caught up in the panic had begun to turn around and give chase. Bree wasn't slowing down. The ship's rear end slid downward slightly as it banked under a massive cog and began a straight ascent, piercing between two larger platters. The wind generated by their speed ruffled Kat's ponytail and whipped it across her face and roared in her ears as they approached a massive green gear turning in the middle of an empty cog.

"Could you be any more obvious." Bree mused. "How close is the next one?"

"You wanted expediency."

"Touche."

"H- Hey, why don't we just cloak it. . ." When the two looked at her she smiled a little. "Leave it to me." The incantation came quick and ready to her lips. The gestures, with equal ease, brought the kiss of arcane energy to her lips and before she knew it she could feel the warm humidity of the cloud spell pulling itself from her lungs. She motioned towards the portal and Bree complied, circling it once in a lazy spiral. She blew the humidity out in the form of a massive vaporous cloud that billowed over every square inch around the portal obscuring it from anyone who might look on casually.

"I always loved a girl that was good with her mouth." Bree nodded as a smile lit her face. "Very good, miss Stoneriver." The ship turned upward slightly to angle itself over the portal before it pitched downward sharply and plunged through. A sharp crackle of power rippled over the ship as it continued its dive into a white open space devoid of clouds or forms of any sort.

Kat looked back the way they'd come to see the underside of several ships sailing over the portal at a blinding speed. Others limped behind the faster ones but nobody seemed to consider looking down. They'd escaped. For better or worse, they were free for another moment. "Holy crap."

Bree turned and leaned against the prow, crossing her arms under her breasts. She was looking at Kathrine with a smile. Kat felt a surge of relief wash over her like a tidal wave. They'd done it. Against any odds, they'd escaped. Through bravery and cunning they'd see another day and. . .

The emotions ran together. Her mind swam in a mix of scenarios that _could_ have happened and how things could've gone horribly wrong. She ran up to Bree and hugged her without thinking. They were all alive and it was their teamwork that'd done it. She could feel her heart hammering in her chest but it was too late to be concerned or worried- there was no need to _think_ through anything.

She kissed the older woman. Passionately.

Thinking was overrated.

Powerful arms came around her lower back and pulled her into the kiss, sealing their lips against any outside intrusion. For a moment there was nothing but that shared breath and the hot blood coursing through her veins. They'd survived and no one could stop them now. This moment was theirs.

It was a tiny thing. A flicker of thought, in the larger scheme of things but it _felt_ right and whole. The woman's tongue was gentle but skilled and powerful in ways that made Kat want to melt. She wanted to give in to her silent temptation right then and there.

A low rumbling voice pulled her attention out of it, though. "We have work to do. . ."

Kat whimpered so softly the breath didn't quite form in her lungs. Bree wasn't letting go, though. So long as she didn't, Kat wouldn't either. She opened her eyes a little to see the woman looking at her with kind, patient eyes. It was an understanding. They needed to get things done. Business before pleasure.

But so what?

The hands slid free but Bree didn't pull back. She waited for Kat to. She knew exactly what chords to play to make Kat's heart sing or cry and just _how_ to play them so that Kat would have to look like the bad guy. It was maddening the power the woman could hold over her without raising so much as a finger. It was also intoxicating.

As if she didn't have enough problems with intoxication.


	23. Volume 5: Dangerous Game: Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Kathrine followed behind Bree at a carefully measured distance. Whenever the woman looked about to glance back, Kat found something interesting in the book she was holding. The orb of light resting on Kat's shoulder cast soft shadows over the highly polished cherry wood hallway, accenting years if not decades of silver inlay that had been carefully etched into the soft wood. The last thing on her mind, however, was the opulence or even the book in her hands.

She clutched the relic in her left hand like a protective talisman and even in her uncertainty, it somehow gave her piece of mind that she could keep it safe from misuse as she learned about it. Bree had been more than willing, even thrusting it into her hands without her opening her mouth to ask. Still, in the tight confines of the third level, below the cargo hold, Kat felt as though the walls themselves were beginning to press in on her with the weight of her undertaking. If it did turn out this thing was dangerous, she needed to see it destroyed. What would Bree say to that?

The woman ran a slender finger along one of the outlines as she began humming a soft melody. They'd had time to change during the trip through the white void and now Bree was favoring a very earthy brown vest that hugged her curves close under a billowing white blouse. The thing that kept pulling Kat's attention from her book, however, was the pair of light brown pants that looked as though she could have painted them on. The view was both spectacular and interesting; her muscles were tight but somehow slightly off from what Kat knew of human anatomy. The high heeled boots didn't help keep her focused, either.

They walked down the hall for a few more moments with only the soft clap of Bree's boots between them. She stopped a few feet from the rear of the ship and took the handle of a nondescript door, the only one in the wall, and pushed it open. The room it opened into was tiny in comparison to the rest of the ship; no bigger than Kat's last inn room and dusty. A thin layer of it covered stacks of books piled around the rectangular room. To maximize the use of the tiny space, carousels multiple levels high had been built into the walls and filled with books bound in leather every color Kat could imagine. A simple throw rug in the middle of the room was frayed and worn through, clinging to the floorboards for dear life.

"Oh. . ." Kat poked her head around the doorframe expecting to see more. "Uh. . . Neat."

"Fit and functional." Bree smiled softly as she stepped in. When she turned to Kat her eyes flashed with a sudden challenge almost as if she expected something Kat wasn't quite ready to give in to. "Not completely unlike yourself, if I may say so."

"Huh?" Kat furrowed her brow. _Is she flirting or am I loosing my mind?_

The woman crossed her arms under her breasts and leaned against one of the circular book cases. Her eyes focused sharply on Kat. "Many wizards I've met would've been trying to sling fireballs and ice storms. . . You? Ah, my dear Kathrine." Her smile warmed a couple of degrees. Kat couldn't help but smile along though something in the back of her mind warned her not to get too friendly. She needed to focus. "I must say. It is rare that someone can earn my respect as you have. It's a refreshing change of pace."

Kat blinked. "T- Thanks?" There was that smile again. That one she couldn't resist. She swallowed, choosing her words with extreme care. "I'm sorry about getting carried away up there. . . I shouldn't have kissed you, and-"

"Kathrine." Bree's hands slipped down to her sides and eventually she planted her palms on one of the shelves of the bookcase. All the while gaze lingered on Kat's, pulling gently on her. An invitation.

Kathrine leaned against the doorframe. Her knees felt weak. How could she say no? _Focus._

The woman's smile didn't fade at all; as warm and sincere as her voice. They tickled the very fringes of Kat's defenses. Testing. "I am not easy to impress and I don't lavish praise where it's not deserved. You did well out there and. . ." A mischievous twinkle sparked in her eyes. "If I'm being honest, I think we're both beyond being a bit skittish around one another, hm?"

"I- I don't think you even know the meaning of the word."

"A minor technicality." She smiled playfully..

"Um. . ."

"Hm?"

_What about Nyx?_ Kat bit into her lower lip, gaze drifting down. Did she have any right to ask? Was it something she'd be offended by? Was it an answer Kat really _wanted_ to hear? She drew in a deep breath.

"Something wrong, my dear?"

"What about. . . What about Nyx?"

The woman's brow lifted ever so slightly. She'd caught Bree off guard. The brief flash of confusion vanished as soon as it formed but she memorized the sight of it, if only because she'd probably never see it again. When Bree spoke, her voice was calm and casual as though she was discussing the weather. "We have time, my dear. Or if you wished to indulge a threesome-"

"Oh, _ew_. No-" Kat bit deep into her tongue. The woman smiled and shook her head lightly. "No- I mean. . . er." Her cheeks burned crimson hot as she rubbed at the back of her neck, looking down she murmured. "I'm sorry. That didn't come out right- I uh. . . I've never been with a man of any species, so it's just kind of. I mean. . ."

"Good recovery." Bree chuckled.

"T- Thanks. . ." Kat sighed. "Foot in mouth, huh?"

"A bit, yes." She pushed off and walked across the room. When she was close to Kat, her smile faded a tiny bit. Her voice was laced with a subtle seriousness that made her sound closer to her apparent age than she ever had. It was the voice of someone who had lived a lot of disappointments and, despite all odds, still held out hope for something greater. She reached out her hand and cupped Kathrine's cheek with the very tips of her fingers, sliding back until her fingers were resting at the back of her jaw. Her thumb came under Kat's chin and she leaned in.

Kat could've pulled back. Some part of her screamed at her to. Oh, but it was too late.

The kiss was electric. A simple brush of her lips against Kat's own and every nerve ending in her body jumped to life. She sucked in a breath involuntarily, inhaling the smells of lilac and heather. It was purely Bree. In the next moment the kiss was over but the woman's hand held her in place as though daring her to break the touch.

Kat sighed out the mixed scent, her eyelids suddenly feeling heavy. She couldn't hurt Nyx, if there was something there, it was sacred and she needed to do everything in her power to uphold it. Sphinx or not, human or not, it was still growth between two sentient creatures. That in and of itself, Chauntea would've probably found beautiful.

"May I confess to you, my priestess?" The woman leaned in against Kat's ear and purred the words like liquid silk across her earlobe. "We have shared decades, probably longer than your parents, and it gets. . . _dreadfully_ boring."

"So, you want me to be a play thing. . ." Kat swallowed, though she still couldn't bring herself to open her eyes.

A warm tongue lapped at her earlobe before she cooed. "I think you missed the part where I explicitly stated I _respect_ you." Bree's hands came to Kat's shoulders. They were firm and commanding, yet gentle enough to allow escape at any moment if she wished it. "And I believe I did promise you a massage, hm?"

She backed up against the wall. "Bree- hold on. . ." The woman went to pull away but Kat stepped into her grip, tilting her head to look her in the eyes. "I don't want to hurt him- or you- or be hurt _by_ you." Those eyes. Pale crystalline pools of terrifyingly beautiful power and compassion. How could they stand to hurt anyone? Maybe she was deceiving herself or maybe she was being realistic. She knew her limits, she knew she couldn't form any meaningful attachments after Jez but she wanted to be held. To be comforted. To be loved.

Her own hands felt heavy. Tied to her sides. She couldn't reach up even though Bree was so close. She sighed and looked down between them. "I. . . I just-"

"Shh. . . My beautiful priestess." Her powerful arm slipped around Kat's back, followed by the other. The woman scooped her up into her warmth and pulled her tight to her chest. "Eyes so beautiful shouldn't know the kiss of tears, except in times of joy. I'll not be the one to put more there. Hm?"

Kat clenched her jaw. She'd been alone for so long. Couldn't she reach out and find someone else? To touch and hold, to smile and laugh _with_ rather than watching others do the things that once came so easy? She sighed into the crook of the woman's neck. She wanted to. So desperately. Why couldn't she bring her arms up and just will it all away?

Why couldn't she just _let go_?

"I'm sorry." A soft sob wracked her body.

Instead of replying, the woman held her as she cried. Seconds slipped into minutes within the warm blanket of Bree's power. It was anything but physical; she could probably rend asunder anything Kat had seen yet she restrained herself to the extreme. She could have control over anyone at a glance, even her if she wished it, yet she only exercised those abilities when it absolutely mattered. But was she strong enough to take Kat's burden, too?

For that matter, was Kat strong enough to let it go?

No, she knew better than that.

A pair of warm lips crested the ridge of Kat's ear as Bree's hands slid to her lower back and pulled her close. "We're not so different." She practically sighed the words across her ear. "Never forget, I'm here if-"

Kat brought her arms up around Bree's upper back and hugged her close. She could never replace Jez or her family. But she could at least _pretend_ to enjoy things as she waited to see them again. Afterall, that's what her father would have wanted; he'd want her to be happy.

Bree didn't loosen her grip but something felt slightly different, slightly off, about the touch in the wake of Kat's hug. She knew. Somehow she knew. The woman pulled back to look Kat in the eyes and leaned against her a little bit, pinning her to the wall. Her forehead came to rest against Kathrine's own but never once did she break her gaze. She didn't even blink. "You have no obligation to me, dear girl."

"I- I know. . ." She lied.

She couldn't lie to Bree. The woman started to pull back but Kat pulled on her feebly. "I will not have that between us. What kind of friend would I be, hm?"

Kat sighed and lowered her gaze. The words practically ran from her lips from some distant part of her mind. "I don't wanna be alone any more. . ."

Bree hugged her closer still, sliding forward so her mouth was next to Kat's ear. In a soft whisper even she had to struggle to hear, the woman brushed her lips against her jaw. "Life is seldom kind and rarely fair. It's friends that make it worth living, my dearest, and I would like to count myself among yours. You're anything but alone."

Did she really believe that? Could she? She sighed into Bree's hair, tightening her grip. She wanted to. So desperately.

"At any time, in any place and in any language. . . Call my name, and I will be there for you." Bree's hands came around Kat's waist to form an X over her back. "I would be loathe to miss the song of the most beautiful siren in all the planar seas."

Kat stared at the side of the woman's head for a long moment. "I don't know how I should take that."

"Did you smile?"

"Kindda. . ."

Bree kissed her cheek. "Then you took it as it was meant." Something even in her voice seemed to smile the words.

Kat laughed warily despite herself. It was genuine, a load being pulled from her shoulders and set aside for the time being. She was anything but beautiful but those words didn't come with a condition and that, above anything, felt like liberation just waiting within arm's reach. She sniffled and wiped her eyes. "Thanks. . ."

"Mmhmm. . ." Bree's hands slowly uncrossed and trailed her finger tips across Kat's back. Even through the blouse's fabric she could feel her nerves ripple to the woman's touch. _It_ was already giving into her but she had to remain stronger. "I was serious about that massage."

"I know."

"Good." Her fingers pressed into the flesh on either side of Kat's spine, working into the spaces between her bones with a feather's touch. "I-"

"What about Nyx." Kat swallowed and steeled herself.

"We've been over this. We're. . . companions, of a sort."

"I don't want to hurt him and I-"

"Sweetheart." The woman pulled back to look her in the eyes once more. There was no trace of doubt or uncertainty within them. "I do as I please with whom I please. He knows this, and he will do as _he_ pleases with whom he pleases. That is our understanding." Her hands continued to work into Kat's back, cresting the curve of her spine until she was under her shoulders. "I care for him, deeply, as a friend. Much as I do for you. You might say it's my nature. . . But I'm not going to promise you the stars in one breath and the skies in another."

"B-"

Bree pushed her weight into Kat, pinning her firmly to the wall with enough pressure to ensure she couldn't move. Kat sucked in a breath at the sudden surge of strength. "You are reading too far into this, my beautiful girl. Live in the moment or let it pass you by." With each syllable the woman's face lingered a little closer until her lips were brushing Kat's own with their mint flavored warmth. Now with their lips practically touching, she was being allowed to make the choice. What did she have to loose?

What could she have possibly gained?

She knew what she wanted and what she needed but how often was it that they were the same thing? Kathrine sighed out softly. Closed her eyes.

She knew what she wanted.

It was time to let go.

She kissed the woman with the pent up passion of years of solitude.


	24. Volume 5: Dangerous Game: Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Her eyes stung from hours of reading and the dust in the air that somehow always managed to settle in her eyes, no matter where she shifted or what she sat on. Perched on the edge of the tiny cot with her legs crossed under her, Kat translated one of the books in Bree's library, taking notes as quickly as she could decipher the context of the material. Most of it was in Celestial runes, a language she'd never been exposed to before, but she'd found a primer guide conveniently tucked in one of the higher shelves. There was no sense of time in the tiny room, only cycles of sleeping, waking, collecting the food offerings left outside the door and using the bathroom now and again.

It was a strange coincidence that most of the books in Bree's library and the ones they'd taken from the Archives actually cross referenced one another. At first it had been a sentence in one reference book siting something else in a bibliography, but the most books Kat rifled through, the more she found that they directly referenced sections of one another. With the exception of a missing volume in the thirteen part encyclopedia of artifacts, Bree's collection was entirely complete with the books from the Archives filling in any blanks. It made the research worlds easier but the dusty old tomes of Bree's collection and the newer and more well preserved ones taken from the Oghmans didn't actually seem to agree on what the relic was, exactly.

The newer books suggested it was a relic of knowledge and forbidden secrets but Bree's books took a much less philosophical approach, explicity stating that it was a relic of Oghma's faithful and there was a price to be paid for the revealed truth. But _what_ revealed truth?

Kat flopped back into the canvas cot and hugged the book to her chest, acutely aware of every creak and groan of the ship and the walls of the room itself. It was a never ending background din to which she had become accustomed, yet in moments of stillness when her mind wasn't focusing, she noticed it and imagined the vibration echoing through her body at some level.

Times of stillness were also when the little voice inside her head whispered the names of people across the edge of her awareness; lovers, mostly. They were women of varying sizes, human or elven- once, both- friends, usually. People she trusted. Some were physically strong, some were just gifted by the gods to be staggeringly beautiful and, Kat believed, had a sense of pity and compassion that far outweighed her own. They were sat on pillars in her mind's eye as a reflection of what she could be.

But then there was Jezebel. . . Kathrine sighed as she rubbed her middle finger where a ring's outline painted her skin with a fainter hue. It wasn't like they'd had years to bond. They'd been forged through fleeting moments stolen from between one crisis or another and ultimately hardened in the crucible of divine judgment. When the priests and paladins were calling for her head, when Kat pulled at her to keep going. . .

When_ she_ did what had to be done to protect her new family.

Jezebel had been the one to give up the fight. She knew they couldn't run any more. She knew that the devil she'd made her pact with would've slowly ate away at Kat's soul until it found a way to corrupt her. She _knew_ what it meant to be a Stoneriver, even if she didn't fully understand it. It was almost like she had all the answers to the questions neither of them knew how to ask.

Kat stared at the ceiling for a long moment. Answers.

Answers?

She rolled over and grabbed her notebook, flipping through a few pages until she came to a block of text. Her eyes widened a little. _Oh-_

Suddenly she had her answer. It'd been staring her in the face the whole time.

# # # #

Kat fidgeted a little, standing in front of the rest of the crew. The deck was bathed in moonlight from twin moons and the lapping of waves trying to touch the ship helped bring her calm but she was still shaking despite her best attempt to remain neutral. Did she really have a right to lie to these people? They'd saved her life and it wasn't like they were _bad_ people, necessarily.

_I'm not lying. I'm just withholding things. Big difference._

Of course there was. Bree would've understood if she understood what Kat knew. She could see it in the woman's eyes, that patient little smile that could've waited her out for eternity if she felt she needed to. Nyx was a bit more intent and focused as though whatever news Kat had to deliver would mean life or death for the entire ship.

That wasn't terribly far from the truth.

"S- So. . . um. . ."

Vaius adjusted his silk bathrobe and ran a hand through his hair to position it between his horns. He looked about as tired as Kat felt. "If this is going to take all night, I'd really like to get to bed-"

"Nonsense." Bree said softly. "You'll want to hear this."

Kat exhaled her relief. She'd been expecting Bree to want to be the first to know. If she wasn't the only one who did, it couldn't be covered up or manipulated. "I found out what the relic does."

"Oh." The teifling crossed his slender arms. "Well, by all means. . . My beauty rest can wait."

"Well, uh-"

"Kathrine, dear. Is everything alright? You seem nervous."

Kat swallowed. "Not really. I uh. . ." She sucked in a deep breath and rubbed at the back of her neck. "Thing is, this thing is potentially _very_ dangerous. It makes me wonder what these people want with it, y'know?"

"Well since you've still not enlightened us, I can only speculate." She smiled when Kat blushed. "There's a face I remember well. . ."

She looked away and rubbed her face with her free hand, clutching her notebook tightly to her chest. With a long sigh, she looked to the woman. "The basic idea is that it'll answer someone's question without fail."

"That's not terribly exciting." Bree crossed her arms over her chest.

"Any question?" Nyx tilted his head ever so slightly.

"Anything. Like, um, you could ask it how your crops will turn out ten years from now. It'll tell you how they'll come out, or if you're not alive, it'll tell you that instead." Kat ran her tongue over her lips. "And I mean any question. Like uh. . . if you'd asked how to maximize your crop yield for the next ten years, you'd get a reply and learn the steps of how to do it, exactly. You follow the steps and you'll get your desired result. . . But there's a catch." She held up a finger. "Once your goal is achieved, you die."

"Oh, is that all?" Bree didn't miss a beat. "Well, I suppose that puts it into the realm of 'interesting but useless' trinkets." Her lips pouted into a frown. "And here I was hoping for something like the trick to making a good pineapple upside down cake."

"Rum. Lots of rum." Vaius mused as he rubbed his chin. "So, you're saying someone could ask for. . . oh, I don't know, becoming a god?"

Bree looked at him with mild distaste. It was a brief thing but Kat caught it even if no one else did.

"Yeah, it's possible. It'd tell you how to do it; the steps you'd need to take and people you'd need to go to or whatever. And when you got that godhoood, you'd die. . . That's the thing, no one's immune to its power." Kathrine swallowed. Did she really need to tell them? If they knew, it might keep them from trying to do something dangerous with it, or it might make them more prone to trying to sell it. She had money, though, what could be gained in getting rid of it? Kathrine looked down for a moment. "There's another thing, though. It can only be used once and it requires some reagents. . ."

"Well! That'd certainly explain why they're trying to kill us for it." Bree sighed theatrically. "Toys, silly people and their overwrought toys. Is there anything else you'd like to share with us, miss Stoneriver?"

"Um. Not really."

"Well, thank you for your honesty." The woman's smile cut into Kat like a sword. Even if she had told her the truth, it still felt wrong. "If you don't mind, I'll hold on to the artifact for the time being and we'll decide what we want to do with it when everyone's rested, hm?"

"Oh. Yeah, s- sure. . ."

"Kathrine, could I see you in my quarters?" Bree turned on her heel, sliding her hands behind her back as her boot heels clicked softly against the floorboards.

Nyx glanced after the woman and then Kat. Kat couldn't meet his eyes any more than she could've told him. She'd been weak and he hadn't explained anything. She couldn't be responsible for Bree's advances. She couldn't say anything that would've made it better anyway. It was best just to scurry on and hope he didn't decide to follow.

Which is exactly what she did.

They entered the cabin and padded through Nyx's room in silence until they crossed through the antechamber into her room. She didn't stop, though. Kat followed her all the way into the rear of the ship where the mirrored walls reflected her slightly uncertain expression.

No sooner did the door close than Bree turned around and pinned Kat to the wall with her weight. Chest to chest, the woman planted her hands on either side of Kathrine's head. She smiled softly and breathed a sigh against her lips. "I have a small request, dearest Kathrine."

"H- y- yeah?" Kat backed into the door even more, trying to straighten herself up under pressing warmth of the woman's presence.

Bree leaned in against her ear and kissed her. "Do you know the spell 'Polymorph Self?'

Kat blinked. "Y- yeah. . ."

The woman sighed into her ear, a hot, humid breath that threatened to melt Kat's resolve even more. "Good."

# # # #

It wasn't at all unusual to use magic to manipulate the dimensions of an object, change energy patterns or even one's appearance. In all actuality, it was only unusual if you could and chose not to. Why was it, then, that Kat felt strange and different? It wasn't the dress clinging to her body with her own sweat, it wasn't the pointed ears or even the wings that had dusted the entire bed in glittering fairy dust. It was _something _else. Something had changed in their love making.

Maybe it was a subtle awareness that she actually _enjoyed_ being cared for instead of being the one giving, time and again, to those who usually just used her and moved on. But Bree was different. She was tender and patient and endlessly giving. Her power was one of absolute restraint and wisdom as well as skill. Kat shivered involuntarily. It was beautiful.

Bree's chest rose and fell slowly as Kat snuggled against her, planting kisses against her full bust. Due to the wings, she couldn't lay flat back but she was more than content to wrap herself around the older woman and kiss her. She whispered across the woman's breast in Sylvan. "_This is bad. I think. . . I'm falling for you._"

The woman's fingers ran through her hair slowly. "Dangerous thinking, beautiful, _beautiful_, Kathrine." Her fingers massaged into her scalp for a few moments, quietly inviting her to fall back to sleep. She had to fight the creeping darkness just to look up at Bree. The woman looked back at her with patience, smiling at some private little joke. Her lips pouted a playful invitation that Kat couldn't quite accept.

She struggled, though. She tried to work up the energy to move but it just wouldn't come to her. Finally she sighed against Bree's shoulder and closed her eyes. She was a mess, she knew she was, but she was too comfortable, too _cared for _to care any more. The woman's arms cradled her close and she knew that deep down, she'd probably need the rest if she was going to keep the relic safe. She didn't _need_ to go anywhere.

"Kathrine?"

"Mmmm?"

The fingers stopped massaging her scalp and came to cup the back of her skull. Kat took it as an invitation to put her lips on the woman's flesh but Bree pulled back a little so she could look Kat in the eyes. "Have you ever thought about leaving this coil behind?"

Without thinking about it, she responded in Sylvan. "_What do you mean?_"

She smiled slightly. Kat kissed her again. "All of this drudgery. . . You live, your life is measured by the blink of an eye and then you're no more. You never had the chance to make something of yourself because it was taken from you by the moors of time." She tilted her head a little, bringing her hand down to cup Kat's cheek. "How is that fair, hm?"

"_No one said life was fair_." Kathrine turned and kissed her palm. "_Besides, you know what? I can't wait to die_." Bree's brow arched slightly. Kat looked up at her and willed her body to move against the bonds of her exhaustion. She kissed the woman's ear and sighed softly with the effort. "_I know my family's waiting for me. . . and even if it wasn't? So what. It's the natural cycle of things. We're born to die- it's the things we leave behind, our memories and stuff that really tell the world who we were. I'm okay with that. . _."

The woman's body seemed to relax somewhat as she leaned into Kat, touching her temple to Kat's forehead. "Oh how long I have waited for someone like you."


	25. Volume 5: Dangerous Game: Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Kathrine awoke clutching a pillow like a shield. Thrown from the embrace of sleep by some ghost of a memory, her face was streaked with tears she didn't remember crying. Try as she might, she couldn't form the memory that had torn her apart, left only to wallow in its terrifying aftereffects.

She wiped her eyes and sighed. It was just a dream, yet something had shaken her to the core and left her shivering atop the blankets. But it was just a dream. . . _Just a dream. Relax. _Kat closed her eyes. An image of Jezebel reaching out for her clawed its way through the darkness. She was covered in ethereal slime, face contorted in a silent scream. Dissolving. She was dissolving.

In her hand, a small circular amulet was gripped tightly and held up like a candle that would somehow break the darkness.

_Anything. Any question. . . She could be free._

"My angel awakens."

Kat jerked and opened her eyes, tightened her grip on the pillow even more. She saw Bree standing at the very edge of the bed looking down on her with a patient smile. Her hand was already reaching for Kat's bare foot as she slid onto the bed, ignoring the glittering layer of fairy dust that coated the entire blanket and most of Kat's skin. She was completely dressed in her 'captain's outfit'; silk pants, white blouse and her coat and even her hair was swept back in a somewhat formal manner. It was a sharp contrast to Kat's being barely clothed in a rumpled dress that barely came down half way over her thighs.

Bree took Kat's foot in both hands and began massaging it. "You've been asleep for quite some time."

"Mrghhh."

Her fingers worked the muscles firmly, paying special attention to the bottoms of her feet and her ankle as she spoke. "I must admit, Kathrine, it's not many that've had the effect you have on me. . ." Without warning she began lifting Kat's leg, leaning in to plant kisses along the inside of it. With each kiss she spoke softly enough to tickle the very edge of Kat's nerves. "I have never met a woman who will do for me as I for them." Her tongue brushed Kat's knee as she crawled up over her. "Successfully, that is."

"Mrghhh." Kat whimpered as she laid her head back down. She wasn't interested in empty praise and meaningless talk. Not after what she'd woken up from.

Bree didn't seem to notice or more likely, didn't care. She kissed the tops of Kat's thighs, giving them a playful nip before continuing her journey up her body, stopping to plant kisses every few inches. "So, my dearest angel, I am wondering how I can repay the favor?"

"Meh. . ."

"Mhm. . ." Her tongue ran over Kat's bicep. "Perhaps I can ask a favor instead, hm?"

"Bree. . ." She barely managed to whisper as she shifted under the woman's weight. She wanted to turn away, be left with Jezebel's image in her mind, and just pretend the rest of the multi-verse didn't exist. "I-" She stopped when Bree wrapped her arms around her.

"I see your eyes, so full of pain and I wonder who I can help. But you'll not let me in, will you?" The woman snuggled into the crook of her neck, sighing. "I ache for you, my angel, but I can't help you if you're not willing to ask for it."

"You wouldn't want to-"

"You might be surprised."

Kat shifted her weight until she was on her back. Bree straddled her hips and leaned in so they were only inches away. Her perfectly pouted lips were drawn into a slight frown, eyes full of compassion and patience of someone nearly twice Kat's age. She _wanted_ to believe.

Maybe she already did.

Kat leaned up and kissed her as she brought her hands to Bree's hips. It was a small thing but she knew how much it meant to Kat and she hoped it'd mean something to her as well. When she finally broke the kiss she had to choke the words out from around everything that told her she shouldn't have said anything. She _could_ trust Bree, she _could_ believe in her. She _needed_ to.

"Remember Jezebel?"

"How could I forget?" The woman ran her fingers through Kat's hair. "You never told me-"

"She sold her soul for power." Kat swallowed and closed her eyes. She couldn't bare to see her reaction. "We'd saved her from her pact but she still went to the Wall of the Faithless."

Bree was quiet for a long moment and her breathing had stopped entirely.

"I. . . I had a dream about her-"

"You still love her, don't you." There was no hurt in her voice, just a solemn acceptance followed by a tender kiss planted on her cheek.

Kat choked. "I do."

"Your family." Bree leaned in and wrapped her arms around Kat, hugging her protectively. Kat sobbed into her ear. "I see."

"I- I-"

"Shh."

"No. I-" She swallowed. "Can I?"

"Hm?" The woman pulled back to look her in the eyes. "Can you?"

"Can _I _confess something?"

Bree leaned back and stripped her coat off, throwing it over the opposite edge of the bed before she laid her chest down against Kat's and pulled her close. "Speak your mind, beautiful angel." Her finger brushed Kat's tears free from her cheeks.

"I wanna use the relic." She didn't flinch. Kat swallowed.

"To save her."

"I figured, yes. . ." After a moment she kissed her chin. "You mentioned ingredients for a ritual. What would we need?"

Kat blinked in surprise. "You. . ."

"You're surprised?" She smiled. "I've little use for something like that-"

"Because you're already immortal, right?"

The woman chuckled lightly but there wasn't any humor in her voice. "Something like that. I'm a hopeless romantic, dear, and I hate seeing someone so beautiful in such pain. If I can see the light returned to those beautiful eyes, I will move the heavens and hells to do so."

Did she really want to trust this woman? "Well. . ." She already knew the answer. "We'd need a lot of stuff."

Bree kissed her chin again. "I know just who to talk to."

# # # #

"You're not serious!" Kat had to shout to be heard over the roar of thunder crashing on either side of the ship. The clouds were so thick she could barely see the woman five paces to her left.

"You put too much thought into it, miss Stoneriver."

"And you're out of your mind!"

"You're a matched pair." Nyx rumbled from somewhere ahead. "Ten degrees north. Same attitude."

"Done and done!"

Lightning split the clouds and slammed into the deck behind Kathrine. She ducked away with a yelp as the sharp tang of ozone filled the air. She looked back to see a smoking hole in the wood. "Hey!"

"I guess we missed a spot." Bree said absently. "How close?"

A fire smoldered into existence around the gaping wound in the pristine wood. It was slow burning but Kat started the incantation for a gust of wind to kill the flames entirely.

"Right about. . . Now."

Slowly, the clouds parted across either side of the ship into a crystal clear sky above a massive ocean of acrid green water. It was a giant swamp of some kind, dotted with hundreds of trees and inlets coated in a thin blanket of moss. A large central island humped out of the moss looking like a giant wart on a troll's face.

Kathrine watched the swamp for any signs of movement as Bree casually adjusted her coat like it was the most normal thing since creation to do. The ship slowly circled the mound until they came to the far side where a sprawling village of huts had been built around a central burrow.

Lizard folk turned their scaly heads up to the intruding ship. Some of the warriors grabbed their spears, others began preparing spells. Kat didn't even have time to open her mouth before Bree threw her hand up and waved twice. She pointed at one of the lizard folk who'd been painted in bright red and white. "Tell them to stand down, would you?"

Kat stared as they looked at the one with the painted body. He nodded and sunk to one knee. The others followed suit. She glanced at Bree as the ship slowly lowered to the ground but never quite touched the murky ground. "How do you do that?"

Bree reached over and slipped an arm around her lower back. "You're not the only one who can be good with her tongue."

"Oh, I know." Kat blurted out. She looked away as heat welled up on her cheeks. "Blah. See what you do to me?"

"You've not seen anything yet."

Kat coughed. "Oh boy."

At some point, Nyx had plodded over to Bree's opposite side. He looked down on the kneeling Lizardfolk, then back up at Bree. "Think he knows?"

"I'm guessing not."

With a derisive snort, he turned away. "I'll keep an eye on the ship, then."

"Of course, dear."

He growled softly as the door to the cabin opened for him.

"What-"

"Long story."

"Bree?"

"Yes?"

"I thought you were an Aasimar."

"Mmm. . ." She looked at Kat. "I thought the same about you at first. But then, I doubt even Sharess's best could produce someone as striking as you."

Kat sighed and leaned into her warmth. She didn't even mind when the woman's hand came to cup her butt. It just felt _right_. "Who's Sharess?"

Bree smirked. "We'll discuss it later, sweetheart." With a gentle squeeze, she pulled away and grabbed a bundle of rope near the prow and tossed it overboard, leading Kathrine down to the deceptively hard packed dirt. The woman didn't stop to acknowledge any of the kneeling Lizardfolk or even cast a glance at them.

Kat's senses bristled with the stench of rotting plant material swirling through the air and mingling with the bittersweet smell of cooking meat from a fire near one of the huts. She looked around for a birthing pool but didn't see one immediately nearby. It wasn't a community on its own. _How strange._

Bree walked casually through the massive burrow in the earth easily the size of the front end of the ship. Something large had made the hole and left scrape marks along the interior walls. Claws. Claws as big as Kat's entire leg.

"Uh."

The woman didn't stop. Clasping her hands behind her back, she began humming a cheerful tune as she slid into the shadows head of them.

"B- Bree?" Kat jogged to catch up with her even as the tunnel they were taking began a downward slope. "Bree, what're we-"

"Patience, angel." She whispered without stopping her tune.

They walked for minutes, through a series of winding tunnels and a maze of offshoot holes that Bree ignored. Kat could sense their being watched but Bree continued her confident stride almost daring anyone to stop them. A few hundred feet later they came to a four way intersection and Bree paused just long enough to glance at the other holes before she made her choice and lead them to the left.

The tunnel emptied into a massive chamber several hundred feet on a side. Thin shafts of light from holes drilled in the top of the cavern cast reflected luminance over an earthen floor lined with gold coins, like glistening tiles they covered the entire floor from corner to corner. In the center of the chamber were piles of similar coins sloped up at the edges to form a nest. In that nest was the curled form of a black scaly body with great leathery wings.

_Oh, shit._

Kat backed up even as Bree stepped into the room. Her boots clicked against the coin. _Click. Click._

The black sinewy body shifted slightly onto all fours and its wedge shaped head swung to face her. It's mouth opened revealing rows of impossibly sharp teeth and though it's left eye was missing, Kat could see it focus on her so intently its eye dilated into a thin line.

Bree smiled confidently. "Hello, Thabraxis, it's been a while."

The dragon arched its head back and let out a roar that shook the entire cavern.


	26. Volume 5: Chapter 5: End of Volume 5

Chapter 5

The black dragon's roar froze Kat's blood solid. Her body quivered but she couldn't force herself to move as the creature rolled its tail over within the mound of loose coins and gems which it sat atop. It looked down on her and Bree, exposing his teeth in a snarl. The thick spines running down his back bristled while Bree took another step forward, head held high. A picture of confidence in the face of impossible odds. She stopped just within his claw's reach.

As if he'd need his claws to kill them both. From what Kat knew of black dragons, they could spit acid with frightening accuracy. Bree, however, wasn't fazed in the least. She stood calmly with her hands clasped behind her back looking up at the lizard. "I'm here-"

"You _dare_ enter my-" His voice rumbled through the entire cavern.

"It's frightfully rude to interrupt your guests." She raised her hand just a bit, stopping beside her head. They looked at one another for a moment and Kat saw a split second's hesitation in the dragon's single eye. She ran her hand through her hair, making a show of adjusting it behind her ears. "It's been a while."

"Not long enough, Glowlamp." He snorted and planted all four feet firmly on the mound of coins, looking between the two of them his haunches tightened up like coils.

"I wouldn't." Bree said simply. "I'm here to cash in my favor."

There was that pause again. "Speak." He snarled.

"How about 'Yes, I'd be delighted-"

"You tempt-"

"My ire." Bree punctuated her point with a quick kick of her foot into the gold coin floor. The heel pinched one out of the earth and sent it flying towards the dragon. It his his chest with a soft _tack_ and bounced back towards her. She snatched it out of the air and turned it over, deliberately taking her attention off of the creature. "It's been a _very_ long time, but I still remember the face of these." She looked at him and flipped the coin into the air with her thumb. "I remember two eyes to every head and tail. . . Do you?"

He snarled. "Y-"

"Oh, I'm sorry, I was nearly done! See, what happens is" Bree held the coin between her forefinger and thumb. "Problems have a way of multiplying." She turned her hand over and suddenly two coins occupied the space between her fingers. "I must say, it's getting tiresome. . . So how about we make two into one." She clicked the coins together into a small stack, looking at him with her nose down, as though he wasn't worth her full attention. "I seem to recall you had a fondness for riddles."

Kat's heart hammered in her chest. This woman was out of her damned mind. She had to be.

"So I have a riddle for you. What walks on four legs, owes me a _lot_ of money and is going to be seeing to its debt today?"

The dragon reared his head back and opened his mouth.

"Ah, ah, ah." Bree held up a finger. "You remember what happened last time."

Yet again, he paused.

"This is one time where _paying_ your debts will be far less trouble than trying to betray your debtors. Hm?" She smiled blithely.

He exhaled slowly. "My minions would tear you apart-"

"Clearly! We saw how that went." Bree stepped forward and tossed the coins into his pile. His beady eye tracked the fall of them before snapping to the woman again. "Reagents. . . Celestial Silver and Batorian Steel."

He growled. "Do you take me for a dwarf, Brath-"

"Not these days." She wagged a finger. "It's Bree."

He snorted derisively.

"Hmph. . . Two stone worth of both and a barrel of molten quicksilver. Shouldn't be too hard for you to come up with, hm?" The two of them stared at one another in cold silence. Bree's eyes were clear and focused, challenging and keenly sharp in a way that Kathrine had never seen even in their most intent moments of passion. It was an entirely different person in that moment. She wasn't the smiling joker or the patient matron. She was ready to tear this dragon apart with her bare hands and she was sure she could do it. Who the hell was this woman, really?

The seconds ticked off like the falling of a blacksmith's hammer against Kat's chest. He could've easily killed them both. She was _taunting_ him to do so and yet he hadn't acted on it. Kathrine's palms sweat as she clenched her hands into fists. She wouldn't have had time to cast any protective spells if things went bad. She couldn't just run away and leave her, though. She opened her mouth to try to whisper, to warn her, but her voice died on her lips.

The dragon's head turned ever so slightly to the right to acknowledge something Kat couldn't see. When he looked forward again his attention was focused on Kathrine. He was gauging his chances. He had to have been. But why wasn't he attacking?

"Interesting. . ." He grumbled. "What is this puny creature to _you_?"

Kat stammered as her mind tried to formulate a reply. She'd stood in the company of dragons before, terrifying though they were, she could usually think fast enough to keep up. But then, she'd never been with someone taunting the damned things either. "I- I-"

Bree's hand swept over Kat's front to indicate her dismissively. "What should concern you more is how fast you're going to be able to get my reagents aboard the ship."

"You ask for too much."

Her tone chilled slightly. "Your life was worth considerably more, was it not? Or has that changed in these last few years?"

Kat swallowed and hugged her arms to her chest trying to fight off the shivers wracking her body. She looked down when his attention flicked to her.

"Years." He snorted. "It's been-"

"Too long? I agree. The point remains; you owe me and I am here to collect. . . It's for a common enemy, I assure you."

His flat head lowered just a little, tilting slightly so he could regard her. There was a flash of curiosity in his eye yet he hid it well. "I'm listening."

"They'll be here within the week. Turns out they hold a grudge." She shrugged indifferently. "Who knew." A quick smile lit her face.

A low rumbling growl boiled in his throat, reverberating throughout the chamber and into his soft, defeated voice. "Fine. See to her needs."

"I knew you'd see it my way." She smiled again. She almost turned away in that moment but something stopped her and she looked over her shoulder. "Don't think I've forgotten The Citadel, either. Once you have my equipment loaded, I'll destroy the sapphire. 'Kay?" She nodded once. "I thought so." With those words she started back towards the entrance, leaving Kat to stand before the creature, unable to uproot herself and keep up. They stared at one another for a moment.

He opened his mouth slightly. "Boo."

She sprinted after Bree.

When they emerged from the cave, the lizardfolk's village with fluttering with activity as they moved from one place to another, moving stocks of arrows, spears and bundles of magic reagents into positions that'd favor them in a conflict. Further up the mound several of them were building fortifications made from fallen logs and other debris.

Kat could barely keep her voice from coming out as a whimper as she grabbed Bree's shoulder. "Are you crazy? Wasn't _you_ who said not to deal with dragons? And what's up with-" Her voice died in her throat when Bree turned around to face her. A subtle flash lit her eyes. A warning. That was all it took.

When she spoke, however, her voice was calm and even slightly cheerful. "I think you missunderstand the dynamics of our relationship, miss Stoneriver. We _need_ these things and I'm going to get them for us. A favor here, a favor there, what's the harm?"

Kathrine frowned slightly as she considered her reply. She wasn't the same Bree that had held her, comforted her and made love to her until she couldn't go on. This woman was cold, calculating and utterly indifferent to those she considered beneath her. That probably included Kathrine. "Yes, but. . . Captain-"

"Here, angel." Bree stepped up beside her and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, leading her back to the ship. Just like that, Bree was back. Full of compassion and playfulness. "The thing with his ilk is that power dominates their mind. Kind of like most men, hm?"

Kat didn't smile. "He's a _dragon_."

"I fail to see your point."

"You really _are_ a bit crazy, aren't you?" Kat started up the rope.

Bree climbed up behind her with zero strain, waiting patiently as Kathrine fumbled and had to take frequent mini-breaks. "I've been accused of such." She said simply. "However, with a body like you have, I can't help but be a little crazy in your presence."

"That went far beyond 'a little'." Kat huffed as she got over the rail and onto the ship. Her arms felt like wet noodles. "And my body has nothing to do with it. . ."

"Oh, but I disagree. Would you rather I show weakness and endanger it instead?" Bree hopped over the rail casually and stepped right up to Kat, snaking her arms under Kat's coat and around her lower back. The woman pulled Kat into a hug that left no room for her objection. "I would never want to endanger those beautiful curves or those haunted eyes." She whispered softly as her hand came down to grab Kat's butt. She squeezed firmly. Possessively. "I am many things but a destroyer of art is not among them. Hm?" She squeezed again.

Kat closed her eyes, sighing. "Who _are_ you?"

"The question, dearest angel, is not who am I but who are _you_?"

Kathrine turned her head so she could rest her forehead against Bree's shoulder. "I'm asking a woman who has no reason to help me to risk her life- maybe her soul- to help pull someone from The Wall. . . By that definition? I'm a selfish upstart who's probably not going to be a priest for very much longer. . ." She swallowed.

Bree's other hand came to rest on the curve of her butt. With another firm squeeze she sighed into her ear. "Actions have consequences. But you know, I'm proud of you. You follow your heart above your dogma and what a good heart it is." Slowly the tips of her fingers traced the outsides of Kat's flanks until both her hands were resting on her hips. She pulled Kat closer and held her firmly in place. "For that, and that alone, you should be rewarded, don't you think?"

"Bree~" Kat's voice came out as a husky whisper. The woman's grip, so tight and assured made it clear who was running this relationship. It was stability. It was comfortable. She belonged to this woman and she knew it. "What are you?""

"I am me. And you are you. . ." Her cheek nuzzled into Kat's ear. "Although, if you were you in a dress. There'd be more of _you_ to see and caress, hm?"

For some reason Kat had to smile. She brought her arms around her lover and sighed. "You really are out of your mind."

"Age does that to you." Her hands slid up her waist despite Kat's whimpering protest. "Like right now." With those words the woman turned her head and kissed Kat's neck, aiming for a particular spot. She kissed it and grazed the tender flesh with her teeth.

"R- r- r-" Kat shuddered and closed her eyes. Unconsciously her hand came up to cup her skull. "Right here?" She glanced over the rail at the lizardfolk going about their new construction far below. None of them paid much attention but Kat could still _feel_ the presence of someone watching them.

"Mhm."

"No- no, we can't-" Despite her frail objection, her body had other ideas. _It_ knew who controlled her and it wasn't her mind. She tried to form some kind of resistance even as Bree turned her toward the prow of the ship and pushed her against the rail. Her grip was strong, demanding. Those soft lips never left her neck for anything. She was everywhere and Kat knew exactly where she belonged in the mix.

Bree's worshipful attention of her body had made her more comfortable within her skin but when it came down to it, she was only borrowing that confidence from Bree. She needed to feel it made real. She needed _her_. So once again, Kathrine gave in to her vices.

_Some priest. _A far away part of her mind whispered into her ear.

# # # #

Kathrine sipped from the wine bowl, staring out over the moonlit swamp opposite the dragon's den. Even with the stench of the rotting plant life, the breeze kissing her bare legs was a welcome respite from the afternoon's activities. It took an act of absolute focus _and_ an endurance spell to keep her upright but she needed to clear her head. There'd been anything but focus in her mind over the last few days and only now did it make any kind of sense.

She wasn't supposed to have been paying attention. Bree's lust was only matched by her passion and skill. It was a shell game to her; she was keeping Kat distracted from trying to protect the relic. But was that the truth? She'd promised to help Kathrine use the relic to save Jezebel. It was easy to convince her to.

It was too easy, infact.

She could've been telling the truth, of course. But what did she have to gain by helping her? She was running from the Oghmans or whomever they were and the relic had such power that she could. . . "move the heavens and hells." Kathrine furrowed her brow. Was that what Mytel had been trying to warn her about when Bree approached? Was it all connected in some way?"

Kat took another sip of the fire wine, letting it linger on her tongue. If Mytel had been asking her to help him recover the artifact from Bree to ensure she couldn't use it, it'd stand to reason that she had intentions against the heavens themselves, woulnd't it?

But was she capable of doing something that hideous? She seemed like a gods fearing woman. But then there was that talk about shedding the mortal coil for divinity. She swallowed the wine and winced as it burned down her throat. There was something she was missing. Something really obvious. Her mind had been too muddled to really focus on it, but now.

Of course, from the opposite side of things, Kat had withheld the exact ingredient list. They'd need more than just the two ores and quicksilver; there was still the Bodaks' teeth, angel feathers and a god's tear, too. Where they'd ever get the tear was Kat's biggest concern, but if they didn't know, they'd never be able to finish it. Not without her, anyway.

She felt dirty withholding it, even now, but how could she trust this woman to do the right thing in light of everything? With a clear head and a bit of thought, she knew that Bree had been keeping her occupied so she could figure out what the relic did and just obediently tell her all about it. She'd taken it for granted that Kat would just spill everything. Kat could play that game too. Even if it bothered her.

She sighed. When had she become so cynical?

Another breeze blew over her, ruffling the hem of the short dress upward slightly. She sighed and forced herself to stand upright. She was a Stoneriver, for gods' sake, it wasn't like they hadn't ever endured hardships. Her father, a Shadowvar war hero, probably faced countless situations like this. But he'd probably never been seduced by the enemy either. She knew what she had to do, she just had to commit to it.

A gentle warmth brushed the backs of her thighs. It was fuzzy and large. Trailing just behind that, a feather brushed across her upper back. Nyx's weight pressed against her until he was standing beside her where he kept a slight but respectful distance. She tensed slightly, looking down at him. "Um. Hi. . ."

"Been having fun?"

Her voice felt small and distant in the wake of his intently curious eyes. They were the eyes of someone who knew his lover had betrayed their confidence yet she couldn't discern any anger or venom in his voice. "Not really. . ." She sighed and looked away. "Nyx, I'm sorry."

"No, you aren't."

Some part of that was true. "I-"

"Have you figured it out, yet?"

"Huh?" Kat blinked. "Oh, the riddle. . . Uh. . ."

"I'll take that as a no." He sighed softly as his wings settled behind his back.

She rubbed the back of her neck as the awkward silence stretched out between them. She eventually managed a timid whisper. "I didn't want to hurt you, though."

"You're a master of the obvious, aren't you." Kat looked to him. Something in his tone said they weren't talking about the same thing.

She refocused herself. "C- Can you tell me the riddle again?"

"I am and yet can not. I am an idea, yet can rot, I am two but none, I am on land, but on sea. What am I?"

Kathrine mulled it over for a bit. Land but sea. A dock, surely. But the other parts made little sense. They ran contradictory to one another- _Oh._ She shook her head. "A paradox."

"Very good." He said with mild interest. "You asked what she was. There is your answer."

"I'm noticing that, yeah."

He drew in a deep breath still looking at Kathrine. They stared at one another before he let it out as a sigh. He opened his mouth to speak but Kat beat him to it.

"Do you think Bree would use the relic for her own ends?"

Nyx's feline eyes flashed a soft orange. "What did she tell you?"

A warning flag raised in the back of her mind. "That she'd let me use it to figure out how to pull Jezebel from The Wall and save her soul."

His expression was carefully controlled but his tail swished back and forth with mild irritation that only grew as he stood up on all fours. "Do you have the key still?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Perhaps you'd best look into it and see for yourself." The confusion on her face must've been evident because he stepped up until he was almost touching her. In a soft rumbling whisper he murmured. "She has her own demons to quell." With that he slipped around her, trotting off to his cabin and leaving Kat standing there with only the cool night air to keep her company.

She bit into her lip. Shell game. It was just a big shell game.

She downed the rest of her wine and headed below deck.

# # # #

Using Vaius's shower and getting dressed in her normal clothes hadn't taken more than a few minutes but had already done wonders for both her sobriety and her frame of mind; she was more acutely aware of her situation and how she might be able to get around it. Bree might have had her fooled, she might've even ensnared her with her ability to spin passion into a way of life but with the understanding and clarity she had now, she could understand it all.

She stepped out into the hallway and stopped at the door to the cargo hold, fingering the key Nyx had given her. He'd been trying to warn her then and she'd been blind to it. Of any of them, he was the only one not taken in by her charms even though, realistically, he had the most reason to be. Maybe it was some kind of lovers spat that immortals solved by foiling one another's plans.

Kat considered this as she slipped the key into the lock below the handle of the double doors. It turned smoothly and unlatched the doors with a solid _click_ of metal on metal. She slipped in, closing the door behind her and started down the hallway. A faint tickle of power bristled her nerves and made her shiver involuntarily as she passed one of the doors just as it had when she came down with Bree the first time.

She ignored the doors on the right hand side and focused on the two on the left. Bree had deliberately ignored them in Kat's presence yet it could've been the only practical place to hide anything valuable. The wall of security provided by the wards and locks would've kept all but the most determined of thieves out, Kat was sure. As she approached the first door she hesitated. Was she really the type of person to sneak into a friend's private affairs without her permission?

The click of the lock answered her question. This was too important to let feelings cloud it. For all she knew, she was doing Chauntea's work without really knowing it.

The door opened into a small storage closet lined shelves filled with boxes and small jars. Most of them were labeled various colors of paint and after checking a few at random, Kat decided the rest were probably telling the truth. She retreated back to the hall and checked the other door.

Contrary to the closet, the room was larger by degrees; easily the size of Bree's bedroom. A large chunk of stone in the form of a teardrop dominated the middle of the room standing on a wood tress. Circling it was a littering of thick golden feathers that were laid neatly over one another in a specific pattern Kat almost instantly recognized from the drawings in the books. Drawn over the feathers were designs in dried blood which was itself layered in a dust of ground up bone.

Kathrine stared in awe at the stone statue. It pulsed with divine energy that washed over her in invisible waves but felt distant. Dead. It was part of a dead god. Where had-

"By the gods. . ." Kat's jaw dropped. She'd known all along. She'd been playing Kat right from the start. How? How had she found out? Why did she need Kat to discover the reagents and then withhold the information? What was it she hoped to gain? Kat looked back to the main treasure room and then back to the god's tear. What was she planning?

It couldn't have been good. She was deliberately taking her time which meant she had confidence she could meet her goals without interference. The chase by the church of Oghma was just a ruse. And the talk with the dragon. They were in on it together. _The common enemy._ She'd said.

Kathrine reached for the door to the treasure room.

She couldn't let it happen, even if she didn't know what it was just yet.

# # # #

Kat crawled out of the hatch just in time to see sunrise. Bree and Vaius were hauling a load of silver bricks the size of Kat's hand up onto the deck and stacking them next to a similar stack of green steel ones. The barrel beside them had been set on its side to keep it from rolling around but Nyx guarded it with the apparent air of someone intently focused on his job. He cast a subtle glance her way when she got to the deck. She nodded warily.

A subtle smile pulled at his lips. She clutched the amulet in her pocket protectively. With any luck, they'd get time to discuss a plan and find a place to drop the relic off somewhere safe.

As if to punctuate her thought, a dozen yellow portals winked into existence hundreds of feet above them. Kat opened her mouth to shout a warning but their ship was already pulling upward and turning away from the dragon's den. The portals expanded larger and larger until they encompassed the size of a small moon in their own right.

At their full size, the ships looked like hovering birds of prey. Dozens upon dozens of them flooded the sky threatening to blot out the sun. Seconds later they were joined in the sky by eight black dragons launching themselves at the ships as Bree's vessel pulled forward and away.

Bree crossed her arms and looked up. "Well, there goes the neighborhood." She said, utterly bored. "Tell me there's another portal nearby we can use?"

"Fraid not." Nyx looked at her and shrugged.

"Ah, well. I was getting tired of running anyway." Something in her tone bristled Kat's nerves to the core. It was final. She had everything she needed for the ritual so there'd be no _reason_ to run. The ship spun around towards the other ships and they began a rapid climb.

The larger of the ships banked out of the way just in time to avoid Bree's but in the moment of lost focus, one of the dragons took advantage and plowed into the deck, tearing into the crew. Several of the smaller ships consolidated to fill in the gap and give chase but in another moment a smaller one swooped into the space between Bree's ship and theirs. There was a man in a brown coat stand on the deck looking up at Kat.

It was the man from the bar. Mytel. Kat's heart skipped a beat. His boat climbed up at a pace to match their own and still keeep the smaller ships from getting a line of sight on them. Kat gripped the rail and looked over the side trying to figure out how she could get away without getting killed. "_Live in the moment or let it pass you by._"

She sucked air in through her teeth and leapt over the rail.

_3/15/1381 (Relative)_

"_It's interesting to think about. Passion. Lust. Love and hate. All these little things that make us who we are and how we arrive at an understanding of who we are. I mean, sure, I was born with an inclination towards a gender that kind of removes the possibility of my having children- although, I do want them- but you know what? I think maybe that's the greatest gift we're given by the gods; the ability to adapt and change our minds._

_Don't get me wrong, I'm not in any hurry to have kids and certainly not 'for the sake of it' but. . . I don't know. I wanted to see little Jezebels and little Kathrine's running around. Is that wrong? I don't think so. Being the last one of my family line, I can't really think of anything but how to preserve it._

_Maybe some day I'll find the right person. In the meantime, though, I'm stuck with the things I was born with. Predispositions and preferences._

_I'm a little drunk, I know._

_Bree has the body of a celestial. She says much the same about me. _

_Having had a chance to experience it from her perspective, I think. . ._

_I'm comfortable with who and how I am. You know what? Screw what anyone else says. I'm Kathrine Stoneriver, the last of the Stoneriver line and damned proud to be so._

_Life's too short to be wandering about feeling sorry for yourself._

_Sounds good on paper, doesn't it?"_

-Diary of Kathrine Stoneriver


	27. Volume 6: Inter Plannar Travel Agents

Chapter 1

_3/16/1381 (Relative)_

"_I often wonder what it must be like to be a more competent mage or a better priest, hells even a better _person. _It's not that I'm bad at any of these- Chauntea blessed me with many gifts for which I am eternally grateful- it's just that I always feel as though I should be doing more, I should be more. I have a hard time looking in the mirror sometimes because of it. I mean how often do you hear your patron say to you 'you've done a very bad thing' and still feel their love for you?_

_It's the maternal energy that warms our hearts and asks us to be giving to our community, to provide as She does, and to forgive the trespasses of those who walk the darker path of life. To be the patient, guiding force of gentle change rather than the angry hammer that forces supplication to prevent divine wrath. These, I believe, are the fundamental tenants of our Lady. She has been here long before us and will continue to long after we're gone._

_Ultimately, we're all part of one large community and like any community, sometimes we run into problems. Our current problem is one of greed and the sheer potential of what we're being given. How can you even quantify something so dangerous and still remain sane? To touch the power of the gods yet still be bound to the mortal laws of nature and its cycles?_

_But there's a trick to all this. If you forget that you're a member of the community, you tend to act selfishly and in ways that might hurt others. This inevitably leads people to want to stop you from what you're doing if only to save others from being hurt._

_I'm not saying she would've intentionally hurt anyone with it, I don't think she's like that, but I am saying that this is too much power for anyone to hold. There are some things that even Mystra keeps secret because they're too much for our feeble minds to wrap around._

_I hold in my hand the key to make life spring eternal from any number of planes in Chauntea's name, to spread Her spirit to every corner of the multi-verse and maybe even bring us all to a greater awareness of how we can serve Her better. . . But if I'm being honest?_

_The only thing I want to do with this is conduct the ritual and find out how I can save Jezebel's soul; to put an end to the years of research, the empty sweaty nights where I clutch my pillow and cry myself awake. I want to know my life was worth her soul as I always knew it was. Right or wrong, she made a human mistake. She deserves the chance to make herself whole once more._

_What I said about community, I meant; one should always look out for the greater good of its whole. Falling into selfish ends only leads to the path of ruin, yet. . ._

_I can't help myself but to wonder, 'what if'?_

_The question isn't whether or not I would give my life for her freedom but whether or not I have the Strength and Courage to stand by my convictions; to help the one I Love. Or will I perform my Duty and do what is technically right and retain my Sanctity._

_This isn't a crisis of faith. I know what I have to do._

_And it kills me._

_Jezebel, I'm so sorry."_

-Diary of Kathrine Stoneriver

The acrid air whistled against Kats ears as she tumbled through the sky toward the deck of the ship below. All around her the sounds of combat echoed through the early morning haze; young black dragons swooped in on the invading ships as they launched spells at Bree's retreating vessel. Kat glanced up just once before she was about to land. The yellow portal that'd brought them all here was starting to close but she was just a hair quicker. She was going to make it.

But was Kathrine?

She pivoted her body around so she could land on her feet but the ships captain, an older man in a brown coat, began turning the ship upward to meet her landing. It was a short vessel, perhaps a quarter the size of Bree's, but it's deck was long enough that she could slide down it and probably not break her leg. Apparently the captain had been counting on exactly that. Some part of her wanted to smile.

It was then that she saw the black dragon lunging for her.

She reacted on instinct. Curling into a ball, her hand grabbed for her sword but she didn't have time to draw it as her foot touched the wood of the sloped deck. It was awkward and immediately her weight came down hard when her ankle was bent at the wrong angle. She barely felt it through the burning haze of adrenaline. She grabbed the railing instead and pushed off, throwing herself overboard but out of the dragon's reach. He had just enough time to realize what was going on as Kat hooked her leg over one of the rail posts and began the incantation of a spell she'd always prayed she'd never have to use.

Phantasmal Killer was an illusion based spell, a school she rarely practiced outside of the absolute necessity of Invisibility. Color Spray was a close second for its ability to render potential attackers inert without killing them. Unlike either of those spells, however, the Phantasm was designed specifically to kill. She loosed it in a breath. The dragon pitched upward to avoid it but she could see the faint ribbons of black energy trailing after him like shadowy snakes flying through a sea of orange and yellow.

The ship began righting itself, forcing Kat to dislodge herself or be forced to continue hanging upside down. She slipped in between the rungs of the railing just in time to see one of the dragons roar a cry of agony and stark terror. The shriek shattered the combat for just a second before the massive creature plummeted out of the sky towards the swamp below. Kat blinked. She stared, mouth agape.

"Down!" The man shouted.

Kat ducked and the ship's speed increased. She dared a glance up to see the underside of Bree's ship, already half way through the portal. The once intricately etched cherry wood was now burnt and smoldering in many places with streaks of soot cut along its hull. The captain, Mytel, had set the ship close enough so they could slip under it without making targets of themselves and still get through the portal.

"This is about the relic, right?" Kat shouted.

"What relic?"

That, more than anything, made Kat's stomach clench. Had she just committed a huge error? If he didn't know anything about it, he hadn't been trying to warn her against Bree, which meant it was possible Chauntea had no knowledge of the relic and she'd betrayed a genuine friend in the process of trying to 'protect' the multi-verse. No. She was overthinking things. She had to be. "Yeah! The Oghman relic!"

"We'll talk about this later-" His features slackened as he looked back. The remaining dragons had turned their attention away from the ships attacking Bree to aim directly at Mytel and Kat. His jaw clenched and in a barely audible whisper, he muttered. "Shit."

Kat grabbed the rail and hauled herself up. "I- oh. . . oh boy."

At once the remaining seven dragons spit long streams of thick acid towards them. Kat threw her coat up to protect her face, knowing it would do no good. She hadn't had an elemental ward active in days. All she could hope to do was be alive long enough to get to a priest and bear a life long disfigurement for her choice of spells. If she was lucky.

Something strong grabbed her. She yelled instinctively, expecting pain. There wasn't any, though. In the next instant she was falling sideways. Human arms held her close to a human chest. Air ripped her hair back but there was no pain, no burning.

Kat opened her eyes experimentally to see they were falling downward through a sea of thick clouds. She screamed.

"That hurts, you know." Mytel held her firmly even as she squirmed and flailed.

Thunder crashed nearby. They fell faster. They were going to die, there was no doubt now. Kat took a deep breath to steady herself and hooked an arm around the man, swallowing. If she was going to die, at least she could do it in the company of a servant of Chauntea. Maybe it was destined. Nobody'd find the relic now, surely. She'd actually done pretty well, all things considered.

"You're taking this pretty well." Mytel said calmly. "I expected more screaming by now."

"N- Not much point, is there?" She licked her lips. "At least no one'll get to it. That means a lot."

"We'll talk about that when we land."

"Land? You mean. . . Wait, you mean we're not going to die?"

He snorted softly but his voice was warm. "I'm in no hurry to be with our Lady, I don't think you are either, are you?"

"N-" There were a number of answers to that question, Kat wasn't ready to voice any of them. Instead, she grabbed the man tighter and sucked in a breath. "How're we going to land and not die?"

"Patience, priestess."

They fell for several more minutes in silence, holding one another close and sharing each other's warmth against the biting chill of the wind. Mytel broke the silence between them with a quick, clipped. "I hope your faith is as strong as your legs."

Without warning they plunged through a thin veil of liquid. It wasn't hard like she'd have expected but gave easily, pulling gently on them and siphoning some of their momentum. It pulled on them more and more until they were all but stopped in a formless void. Mytel let her go and planted his feet under himself showing Kat she could do the same.

"Where are we?" She whispered tentatively.

"Honestly not sure. . ." He glanced around. "I bought the map from a couple of elves who said this'd take us to Dritan." Another quick look and he shrugged. "Are you alright?"

"Y- Yeah, are you?"

"Fine and dandy." His voice was slightly gravely but pleasant and soothing like a patient father. "So, I take it you're no longer keeping company with the pirate woman?"

"Something like that- um. You said you weren't after the relic?"

"Yes, what _is_ that thing you keep talking about?"

"L- Let's worry about that later, huh? When we're out of here. . ."

"No, I think it best we discuss it now. I was sent here to bring you into the fold, miss Stoneriver, but if you're in possession of something dangerous, I need to know."

"Into the fold, huh?" Kat fidgeted a little. "Kindda loaded, don't you think? I mean, I don't really know you and-"

"You know enough. Just like any of us." He reached into a coat pocket and withdrew a couple of seeds, tossing them to the non existent ground. Instantly they expanded to take the form of a dog with bright glowing eyes. He knelt down beside Mytel and looked up expectantly. "Would you find us a portal, please?"

The dog yipped softly and started off at a run trailing a faint glimmering shadow behind it.

"Neat. But uh. . . I mean no offense, mister Mytel, but I really don't know you and this whole situations been one mess after another."

"True enough. It's been an interesting run. You know, I was almost sure we would've spoken at the World Serpent, but then there was that woman. . ." He pursed his lips ever so slightly. "What _was_ her name? Charming girl, red hair. Followed a Hin deity of some sort?"

"Uh. Wh- Who?"

"The one you took to your room." There was no condescension in his voice but a subtle kind of humor. "You remember her name, surely?"

"I-. . . Erm."

He sighed. "Kids."

"Hey! Who're you to judge me?" She took a step forward, sending a spear of pain up through her ankle and leg. She winced and withdrew, doing her best to mask her discomfort. She didn't need to advertise her pain if this man wasn't who he'd claimed to be.

The man straightened out his coat looking at her with a patient smile. He really _did_ look like her father but she wasn't ready to just roll over and accept his view of her life. By the same token, however, he hadn't really judged _her _so much as made a general comment. Maybe she did have some room to be a little graceful. When he spoke again his voice was calm and casual. "Miss Stoneriver, we both know you're not as tough as you pretend to be. Even if you were, we all need our Lady's grace now and then. Could you imagine a life without Her touch in it?"

"Of course not but I don't see what that has to do with my choice of company-"

"I never said anything about that; who you sleep with is your business." He shook his head. "Listen, I'm here to help you-"

"Then can you help me get back to the Prime? We need to get rid of this relic before someone finds it and gathers up the reagents to-"

"I think we're on two different pages here." He sighed. "Hold on." No sooner did the words leave his mouth, then his dog trotted up and nuzzled his hand before pointing in direction behind them. "Go on." He turned to follow the dog and motioned to Kat to do the same. "I was asked to help you find your way before you did something foolish."

"Foolish?" Kat took a step after him on her sprained ankle and strangled a whimper in her throat. "I- I can't imagine what that'd be-"

"Oh, I think you can. That's neither here nor there, though." Without looking back he turned his head just slightly to regard her. "Is it broken?"

She sighed. "No. I don't think so."

"You'll be fine, then. We've a lot of ground to cover and not a lot of time to do it. . . I'd like for you to come with me, hear me out and if you don't like what I have to say, you're free to walk away. Fair?"

"Y- Yeah, more than fair. Um. . . Thank you, by the way."

"For what?"

"Well, you kind of did show up at just the right time. Or was that planned?"

This time he did look back at her and smile. "Our Lady is a patient one, isn't She? The best laid plans of men and mice and all that."

"So She. . . She sent you?"

"You might say that, yes. So, we're coming full circle, is this relic dangerous?"

"I- I think it is. It's only in how its used that makes it dangerous."

He walked and Kat hobbled in silence for a few moments before he slowed his stride, offering his hand. "Perhaps that's what She meant, then. Tell me, have you used it?"

"N- No." She pulled away looking at him uncertainly. "I uh."

"Had planned to, yes."

"N- I thought about it, yeah. But I can't do that. . . I mean, the requirements are really heavy and if someone stopped me, I mean it could fall into the wrong hands."

Mytel nodded along slowly, waiting until she finished before choosing to speak. "So, you never stopped to think if it _should _be used in the first place, but rather about the requirements and the logistics."

Kat frowned. "I-. . . Yeah, I guess not." She rubbed the back of her neck. "Well, uhm."

A soft smile pulled at his lips. "Maybe that's what I was to stop you from doing. You've made quite a few mistakes as it is, don't you think?"

She swallowed. "I've made a few, yeah, but. . . I mean. . . What're we talking about here, really? Jezebel?"

"Ah, yes, the condemned." He sighed. "Such a tragic thing to happen to a soul, but who're we to judge the shortcomings of man's lust for power. Our lot is to bring them to Her, not make excuses for why they are the way they are." Something in the tail end of his words rubbed at Kat's nerves. It was condescension and judgment. Maybe not all that undeserved but who was this man to damn her? "Just as yours is, priestess. Or have you forgotten?"

"I'm sorry, I don't quite understand what you're getting at."

"I'm here to offer you a chance, miss Stoneriver, to serve Chauntea with the faith and vigor you use to try and save those who have no purpose being saved. Your heart is in the right place but your methods need work. I'm here to help you learn new methods and grow. In short, our Lady wished to make you into an agent for Her work." He paused, letting it sink in. "I'd be your direct mentor until your training was complete. Does that sound like something you'd pursue?"

"I. . ." She took a deep breath and studied his face for a moment. He could've easily been lying to her but it was more likely that he honestly believed what he was telling her. _She_ wanted to believe it, too, but she couldn't fall into that trap yet again. She'd believe Bree and it'd turned out she was a megalomaniac. Who's to say this man wasn't any different? "I think I need to get this artifact out of the minds of people before I can commit to anything, mister Mytel. If someone finds out what this thing does, or if I give in to my temptation. . . I mean, could you imagine the damage that could be caused?"

"Is that what _she_ had planned? Wanton destruction and never ending chaos?"

"Um. I- I really don't know."

He narrowed his eyes ever so slightly as something flashed in his brown depths. Challenge. "Then how do you know-"

"Because she lied to me to get what she wanted! Cripes, I'm tired of being used by people I believe in. I'm sorry, mister Mytel, but I think for right now you're going to have to take a long walk just like I am."

"She won't be pleased." He warned.

"She knows exactly what I'm doing or I- I told her. Many times. Just like with Jezebel. Intentions not withstanding, I _can_ get this thing rendered inert without anyone getting hurt or getting some super dangerous powers, you know? Tell me that isn't worth doing."

He simply looked at her like she was stupid.

"You don't get it, do you, this thing is _dangerous_ in the wrong hands. Like, exceedingly dangerous. Bree was going to use it for something and I don't even know what. The Oghmans were ready to launch a war over a city to bring it back. People _kill_ for power like this and now that I have it, I'm going to safe guard it for as long as possible. If only to protect the very gods that we _claim_ to serve, mister Mytel."

With a long drawn sigh he motioned to the left. "As you say. . . The portal's that way. It'll take you to a city called Dritan. From there, you can get passage to any plane you wished. But I warn you, priestess, the ice you tread is thin and cracking." He rubbed at his eyes. "I really wish you'd reconsider."

"I'm sorry, but right now. I just- I just. . . I _need_ to do this." Some part of her mind whispered in the back of her skull. _I need to know she had a chance._ She sighed. "Yeah, I'll get this taken care of and then, well, who knows, huh?"

"If that helps you sleep at night. But I warn you, the path of power is one full of corruption-"

"Mister Mytel, I'm a Stoneriver. We _don't_ get corrupted."

"What about Jezebel?"

Kat winced. Her mouth opened to form a reply yet none came. He was right, of course.

"If you change your mind, I'll be here." He pulled a small folded letter from his pocket and offered it. "Don't use it unless you're absolutely sure, though. Alright?"

She nodded, hand numb as the realization hit her full force; she had accepted one of the truly corrupt into her family by virtue of her marrying Jez, and in so doing, she'd tainted their entire bloodline all the way back to the very first. She had to fight to choke her voice from her throat. "Ok-okay."

"Good." The man's shoulders slumped a little as he considered her. Several seconds ticked by in silence before he stepped in and hugged her close. "I'm sorry."

Kat sighed into his chest and returned the hug, loosing herself in a moment from some other life. One with her father. She had to pretend that he was, just for a moment. She needed him to tell her it was going to be all right. "I miss you." She whispered.


	28. Volume 6: IPTA Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Kathrine stood at the lip of the glimmering hole in the darkness, silently watching as men and women passed by cloaked in strange garb she'd never seen before. It was simple, even bare by comparison to most of those who lived in the wilds, but they seemed like civilized people. Buildings in the background were simple one and two story structures composed of wood and plaster much like any in Arabel.

_Dritan, huh?_

She stole a glance back to see Mytel standing close at hand with a disappointed frown. It wasn't like she didn't serve Chauntea as it was, dedicating every moment of her life near people to bring them into Her grace. She just needed a few days to get rid of the Oghman relic and then she'd have all the time in the multi-verse to make amends and set things right.

She just needed a couple days.

"I'll be done soon. I just need to get rid of this thing. . ."

"Who're you trying to convince?" He said softly.

Kat didn't have a ready answer. She knew what was right to do in this situation; hide the relic from those who sought power and then, and only then, could she get back to the things she was meant for. She licked her lips and stepped through the portal. She'd need to get back to the Prime or at least the World Serpent. At least then she could find some way to seal the relic in a box and bury it somewhere. Maybe with Jezebel.

That would've been poetic.

The strange sense of liquid pulling on her was immediately lost to a gentle breeze blowing over her like a kiss of welcoming from the new plane. All around her, men and women ignored her as they went about their business, buying and selling things in a bustling market lined with stalls selling everything from dyes to magic powders and tonics. The primary occupants of Dritan seemed to be a mix of humanoid peoples such as lizardfolk and humans with the occasional elf mixed in to the throng.

Immediately noticeable was the mix of dialects from many corners of Toril. Some she recognized as Chultan, Turmic or even the occasional bits of Orcish to add variety. Many of the vendors themselves favored common, fluent enough to pass for people who'd spent a great deal of time in the company of native speakers but every one of them had a distinctive accent.

The scent of the exotic spices of some of the vendors made her senses feel slightly disconnected, giving the whole experience a surreal feeling. People pushed in on her bright white coat as though she was a beacon in the sea of drab browns and greens. Surely some of them were trying to pick her pocket but she knew better, she kept all her valuables inside the pockets lining her coat rather than the exterior ones.

Kat glanced around, locating a woman selling intricately woven throw rugs. She slipped up to her booth, smiling as she admired the handiwork. "These are very beautiful, miss, what're your prices?"

The old woman pointed a gnarled finger towards one of them, mumbling something.

"I'm sorry?"

"Fifty- Fifty coin."

"Oh. Um. . ." She'd known she wouldn't be able to afford it, but it opened her for her next question. "I guess I'll have to get to my bank box. Um. Do you know where I can find a planar travel agent?"

"Travlahwhat?"

"A portal master?" Kat leaned over the counter so she could be better heard over the din. "Like people who know ways through portals and stuff?"

"Achanya wehna." She nodded and pointed down the concourse towards a large booth lined with rune stones that dangled in the wind, clicking together when a gust would rattle them. The dwarf behind the counter had his head in his hand flipping through a book with a bored expression.

"Thanks, miss. I'll try and get back before you go home." Kat turned towards the stall and pushed her way through the crowd.

When she stopped in front of the dwarf's booth, he muttered in a bored voice. "No freebies, no trips to the nine hells and no trips to Mechanus. Don't ask, I won't tell. . . Now where do you want to go?"

Kat frowned. "I'm sorry, but I haven't any coin on me-"

"Then you've got yourself a problem." He muttered gruffly. His beady eyes flittered up to look at Kat and almost instantly they softened. He sighed. "You lost?"

"Yeah, kindda. . . This is Dritan, right?"

"Yeah, but where're you headed?"

"I'm trying to get back to the World Serpent." Kat swallowed. "I understand you don't do freebies, but uh. I'm a priest- and a wizard. I can uh. . . I dunno, surely we can work something out?"

He sighed and closed his book, giving Kat his full attention. "Whodya serve, girl?"

"Chauntea, sir. A human deity of agriculture and growth and renewal."

He nodded along quietly for a moment before offering a tight smile. "Chaunteans tend ta be good folks, that what you are? Dressed like that? And claiming ta be a mage, too? You carry that sword for looks or do you know how to use it?"

"It was my brother's, sir. . . It's a family heirloom." She ran her tongue over her lips feeling a sudden heat warm her cheeks. "I'm, uh. A terrible swordsman, though. And, yes, I'm a mage. An evoker specifically. Um. My spells are usually aimed at disabling rather than killing people, though- so. . . Yeah." She shrugged lamely.

The dwarf's gaze roamed her thoughtfully for a few seconds before he finally spoke a careful, controlled mix of understanding and challenge. "You're a long way from the World Serpent, but you can get there from mount Envsta. There's a portal there that'll take you right to it."

"Huh, great. Thanks! But, er, how do I get to Mount Envsta?"

He snorted softly. "Definitely not a native." With a groan of protest from the stool he was sitting on, he leaned down and pulled out a scrap of paper, drawing a square. "This is Dritan. Follow the river to the south-" he pointed behind her. "-until you get to a thick forest. Then you just skirt the edge of it until you find the road. Take the road twenty miles north and you'll hit the end. That portal will take you to Envsta. Once ya get there, just circle around to the opposite side of where you came in and you'll run right into it. Looks like a big marble doorframe."

Kat looked at the map, committing it to memory. Twenty miles was a hell of a hike. "Is there no easy way?"

"Sure there is." He grabbed a rune plate from one of the shelves below the counter and thumped it on the counter between them. "Only a hundred coins for such a pretty face."

"S- Sorry, I'm flat broke."

"Well, there's yer options, lass."

"Mph." Kat sighed, fingering the map. "I appreciate it, sir, I do. Um. Here, it's not much, but if you'd take it, I'd not feel like such a burden on your time." She reached into one of her coat pockets producing the last two silver coins she had. They'd meant to be reagents for a spell but in light of unexpected generosity, it seemed only right.

"Well, that's nice of ya. Thanks for that." He smiled slightly but his expression quickly grew dark. "Just don't get lost out there. The forest innt a place for good people to spend long, if you catch my meaning."

"Lotta monsters and stuff?"

"Trees. Lotta _trees._"

"If. . . you say so. Um. Thanks again."

"No problem. Be safe, lass."

She turned to go but her gaze came to the map again, only now noticing the big rectangular squiggles that read 'Null Magic'. She glanced back to see the dwarf reading his book once more. "This right? A null magic zone?"

"Aye. Most of the way up the mountain and all around the base."

"Crud. . . Thanks for the warning."

Kathrine slipped through the market goers until she was at the edge of the main market, surrounded by a bright plaza trimmed in what looked like sandstone. Benches ringed the central platform offering Kat a place to rest her heels for a moment and figure out what she was going to do. As she sat down her finger unconsciously traced the edge of the map. Bree had to know she was gone, she had to know that the relic was gone.

She had to know Kat betrayed her.

She'd saved Kat's life, treated her like a friend and in the end had shown her that she was as devious as any devil. She'd known all along what the ritual required, she'd _planned_ for Kat to use the relic or. . . Or something. Why _had_ she shown Kat the relic at all if she'd planned to use it for her own ends? It didn't make any sense. Sure, some people enjoyed showing off, but she wasn't the type to need to do that. She could have easily commanded Kat to keep from doing anything at all about it.

And yet. . .

"Hey there." A velvet smooth voice said right beside her.

Kat squeaked. "Er-" She cleared her throat, glancing to the woman who'd taken a seat next to her. she was an elven woman, short with bright green eyes flecked with gold and sharp features tanned to a perfect bronze. Brown hair framed her face and her bangs were teased forward to shade her eyes with wisps of hair that dared anyone to part them.

She was smiling warmly, leaning over to study Kat's map. Her leather vest creaked as she raised a slender finger to trace a line. "Oooh, you're going through the Butcher's forest? That sounds like fun."

"Er- Sorry?" Kat frowned. "Why's it called that."

The woman's airy blouse billowed under her tight vest, the sheer fabric flowed like whisps of air about her form but what struck Kat the most was what the fabric drew her attention to; between her breasts, she wore a golden heart pendant polished to an immaculate shine with a ruby at its center. "Well! You see, there once was a prince so desperate for the attention of his unrequited lover that he killed two whole clans of elves, sacrificing them to the gods that existed nowhere but in his mind!"

"Oh, that's horrible!"

"Indeed it is!" In a moment the woman's wiry arm was around Kat's shoulders. She glanced around conspiratorially as though someone might overhear. Kat followed her glance, smiling to herself at the jovial nature of the woman's tone. The elven woman leaned in, pointing at the map and whispering. "I bet it was the forest devil that's said to dwell below the canopy. I do, I do."

Kat glanced at her dubiously. "Uh huh. Well, um. . . I unfortunately need to get around that forest."

"Oh?" The elf's bright eyes sparkled with amusement. "Heading to all points south, are we?"

"Not. . . really. Um." She drew in a breath, carefully choosing her words. Without even really thinking about it, she spoke in elven as clear and refined as her mentor had taught her so many years ago. It was a skill that she only seemed to improve with age and the woman- though she didn't express it- seemed to appreciate her tone and lack of an accent. "_I need to get to a mountain, I'm trying to get back to a planar bar, you see._"

The woman's lips pouted playfully. "_Now that means I can't make fun of you when you're not looking. No fair._" She smiled. "_So! Planar bar, you say? This wouldn't happen to be the World Serpent, would it?_"

"Uh huh."

"_We might be able to help you! I heard you asking about a planar travel agent and I was on my way to introduce myself before you scampered off._" The woman offered her left hand still holding Kat's shoulder gently. "_You can call me Litayna._"

"Um." Kat swallowed. "_I_, uh, _I don't have any money to offer miss Litayna._"

The woman didn't bat an eye, smiling all the more. "_Well then we'll have to find other ways for you to pay your way, won't we? The border guards here are notorious for their bureaucracy and we're on a bit of a tight schedule. So, I've a proposition for you. . ._"

Kathrine groaned. "Not this again."

The elf poked her side. "Easy as pie, you might say!" When Kat squirmed she smiled, pressing her body closer. Kat scooted over slightly until she was on the very edge of the bench with nowhere to go. When the elf poked her again, she leaned into the woman. "Help us get past them. You know, with magic or something, and we'll take you wherever you want to go."

"W- Who's 'we'?"

"Oh, myself and my sister, she's also called _Litanya_. You'll like her!" She smiled brightly. "Come on, whatchya say?"

"Uh. . ."

"It'll be, like, an adventure!"

In a timid, distant whisper, Kat sighed. "I think I'm all adventured out." She looked to the woman, searching her smiling face for any signs of deception or- a fleeting hope, perhaps- signs that she might actually be Bree in disguise. "You follow Hanali Celanil?"

It was her turn to look at Kat studiously. The mock seriousness looked out of place in light of her childish charms. She smiled abruptly and poked Kat's ribs. "We do! Whatabout you, huh? Hiding a little elven in that old body are you?"

"O- Old? Pff! I'm ninteen!"

"Ohhh, you're a baby yet."

"Baby." Kat sighed. "Yeah, I don't think so. Um. No, my mentor insisted I learn everything about her culture and the language and everything."

"Oh, so you're an apprentice to someone? You're some archmage's pet, aren't you?"

"No way. Mages are boring, scary people."

The woman giggled and poked her ribs yet again. Kat squirmed and sighed in resignation as the woman poked her repeatedly. "Boring, perhaps! Scary? I don't know about that, I think they're kind of fun. So, if you decide you want to cut your travel time to, like, nothing, you're welcome to join us but we're leaving _now_.

Kathrine took a deep breath and sighed. "Yeah, um. Could I?"

"Great! We're going to have _so much_ fun." The woman hopped up and spun to offer Kat her hand.

It was only then that Kat noticed the woman was wearing a knee length pleated skirt and calf high boots with little knee pads sewn into the fabric. She quickly averted her gaze from the woman's legs as she stood up on her own. "I'm Kathrine, by the way."

"Nice to meetchya, miss Kitten." She threw her arm around Kat's waist. She herself stood only up to Kat's chest but her demeanor and natural charisma put her on the shoulders of giants with nothing more than a smile. "Right this way! To adventure!"

Kat sighed to herself. _No rest for the weary, I guess._ She managed an unenthusiastic 'yay' as they started towards the south road.


	29. Volume 6: IPTA Chapter 3

Author's Note: So, guess what! We just eclipsed 100,000 words! Now, there could be arguments made that that's an arbitrary, worthless mark, but to me it means a lot of progress in my abilities, the story and writing in general.

It also makes me think to myself "Wow, self, you're gonna have a ton of work to do when it comes to editing. ;_;" I suppose we'll see, hm?

So how do we celebrate this? I don't know but I'd love to hear people's thoughts on it. Leave your ideas in the comments or PM them to me and I'll review then and maybe we'll see what we can get going.

Chapter 3

Kat's limp had abated some by the time they got to the plain looking carriage parked outside of an inn on the south side. Two nearly translucent horses were mounted in bridles attached to the carriage by way of magic braids of glistening rope that almost seemed to phase in and out of view even as the horses shifted in their bindings. The carriage itself looked like something Kat had seen from the traveling merchants and gypsies; it was tall, rectangular with a door in the back and glass windows that had been shrouded with thick red curtains to match the red paint of the carriage itself.

_Litayna _skipped past Kat with a merry little hum as she crawled up the little ladder to the rear door, opened it and poked her head in. There was some whispering and an excited 'come here' gesture before another head poked out slightly higher than where_ Litayna _stuck her head in. At first Kat thought it was some kind of magic trick but it quickly became apparent that the new face, while being an identical match for_ Litayna_, looked tired and haggard. Her long hair was pointing out at different angles and her eyes looked slightly bloodshot. She looked drunk.

_Litayna _pulled back with a triumphant smile aimed at Kat. "This is _Litayna_, Lit, this is Kitten. She's agreed to come with us!" The young elf looked up at her twin sister just in time to see her retreat back into the carriage. The door slammed shut behind her. _Litayna _and Kat exchanged a look before they both shrugged. "She's not a morning person."

"But elves don't sleep. . . ?"

"Semantics!" She bounded over to Kat and hooked an arm around Kat's, leading her over to the carriage. "So! Ready to go or did you need to use the little human's room?"

Kat perked a brow and shook her head. "No, I'm all set. Um. What're we doing, exactly?"

The elf started up a ladder built in to the side wall so she could get to the seat to take the reigns. Unconsciously, Kat followed. They didn't seem like bad people but she kept her reservations close to her chest, not quite ready to just blindly follow them but not ready to dismiss them either. Kat bit into her lower lip as she looked up, stealing a quick glance up the elf's skirt. _Just to make sure she isn't carrying any concealed weapons, naturally._ But anything being concealed didn't seem to be something this woman was familiar with. Kat coughed.

"Hm? You're not sick, are you?" The elf looked at her with sudden suspicion but it was more theatrical than genuine.

"N- No-"

"Then why're you red in the face?" She pointed accusingly. "You've got the- er- uh- red face plague don't you? Gah, we're doomed!"_ Litayna _picked up the reigns smiling brightly.

Kat couldn't help but smile as she eased herself into the seat beside the woman, adjusting her sword so it wouldn't be in the way. "So, really, what're we doing?"

"All you need to do is to tell the guard we're on a diplomatic mission from the kingdom of Cormyr and-"

"_Are_ we-"

"Of course!" She leaned back, whispering to some invisible audience. "Not." Then back to Kat, she smiled. "But my Envoy papers say we are!"

Kat opened her mouth to object but_ Litayna _cut her off.

"Hey, I love a city as much as the next person, but these places grow on you like mold. It's nearly as good for you, too!"

"But-"

"It's this or the inside of a prison cell for the next six months while they figure out how we, A, got in and B, what we're doing here in the first place."

"I thought you said you were a travel agent-"

"I am!" She cracked the reigns and the carriage started forward. "I've been all over. My card." She flipped her left hand over so fast Kat barely registered it until she was holding a small paper card that looked as though a toddler had scrawled on it. She squinted, trying to make out the childish writing, giving up after a few seconds. When she flipped it over the scrawls followed the movement, crawling over the edge of the card by their own will to take up their positions on the back side of it. "Says _ Litayna _Sisters, Travel agents extraordinaire. Yep yep."

"Uh huh. . . And what about those Envoy papers?"

"I've got those! Er. Somewhere." The young elf's bright eyes flicked about before she patted herself down. "Some. . . where. . ." She patted her skirt down, then her boots. "Uh. . ."

Kat looked forward as they approached the southern gate of the city. The walls were tall, the ramparts loaded with archers and a huge cauldron directly over the rather narrow trench that lead to the massive wooden doors which would take them out of the city. The guards on either side of the downward slope were looking at them expectantly as they approached.

"Here, take the reigns."

Before Kat could object the rope was in her hands and she was watching as the elf skittered over the roof and executed a perfect drop off the back of the carriage into the cabin. She blinked. "I don't know how to-" She looked forward. "Aww man, come on. . . I don't know how to do this!"

There was no reply.

Kathrine fidgeted with the rope, uncertain how to proceed. She raised it a little and gave it a tug. Maybe that'd slow them down. When the horses didn't slow their pace, she brought the reigns down. "Um. . . Good horses. . . just slow down, now, okay?"

The guard station was rapidly approaching and the horses only seemed tobe picking up speed. Kat raised the rope again and tugged harder. They didn't slow down. She frowned as the station came up even faster. Her heart hammered in her chest as she pulled on the reigns. "Slow! Slow down! _Litayna_! I could use a hand up here!" They were only a hundred paces from the guards when the horses picked up a firm gallop.

With their heels clopping against the sandstone pavers, the horses started into a dead run. One of the guards raised a hand motioning them to stop. Kat yanked with all her strength but this only seemed to spur the horses on to greater speed. "I can't!" She shouted. One of the archers pointed at her, looking at the others.

"I can't stop this thing!" Kat stopped yanking. Only thirty feet away from the door. There was no way they'd make it in time even if the horses stopped right then. She had seconds to decide; become a criminal in a foreign land or wind up a smear on someone's front door. As if that was a choice. She grabbed a hand full of air, murmuring an incantation in broken Draconic as she turned her hand over to form the motions necessary. When she managed to blow out her breath, the Gust of Wind spell ripped through the distance ahead of them and shattered the thick beam of wood keeping the door from opening. In the next instant, the doors blew outward into an open meadow with a long trail that disappeared down into a valley.

Kat already knew what was going to come next even before the first arrow _tocked_ against the cabin just beside her. She flinched and dropped the reigns entirely, turning her attention to the ramparts. This time, her mind was focused. The archers aiming at her didn't exist. She couldn't see them as a threat. She retreated into her mind and began another incantation, murmuring the words that'd bring forth a billowing cloud of noxious gas. It wouldn't be fatal but the powerful evocation, in her hands, would've rendered them unable to get a shot off.

Something hot and sharp seared her shoulder but the pain was muffled, thankfully, by her concentration. When she let the spell go, the pain hit her full force. She looked to see a growing red stain on her coat even as the cloud started to take shape above her. It filled the ramparts with smoke in the form of a fine mist, blocking the view from either side. The soldiers coughed and hacked, uselessly trying to scramble out from the growing mass of mist. Meanwhile, the carriage bucked up as the stone pavers turned into the hard packed dirt of the well worn trail. Kat jerked backwards and turned forward, grabbing for the reigns.

They weren't there.

_You gotta be kidding me!_ Kat winced. "Adventure, she says. Fun, she says." Arrows thumped against the back of the carriage. "Blah. I need a new occupation." Her shoulder throbbed with a dull ache as she laid down on the bench seat, fishing around for the rope. It was just too far out of reach.

They were only a couple hundred paces from the downward slope of the valley and going much too fast to be safe. What little she knew about horses said they'd probably try to turn away from the edge and in so doing, would flip the entire contraption over the slope.

"_Litayna_!" Kat called out. There was no time, though. She swallowed and grabbed the edge of the seat. Her shoulder screamed its protest but she refused to listen as she lowered herself down on to the thick wood beam between the galloping animals. It bobbed and swayed under her, trying to throw her off despite her death grip on the edge of the bench. She could feel blood running down her chest from the open wound, her muscles screamed for relief. "Slow down!" She shouted.

Heedless to her plea, the horses continued their swift gallop, ever advancing towards the edge. Kat winced, stealing a glance upward and to the side, gauging her chances. There was no way she'd get clear without being trampled. And then there was still the women inside. Even if she had been abandoned, it wasn't in her nature to just leave someone to die. She had to at least _try_.

Abandoned or not. _Story of my life. _She swallowed. Kat took a careful step forward, still clutching the bench for dear life. She touched the reigns with her foot. So close. All she had to do was reach down and grab them.

But then what?

Her mentor had taught her better. She needed a plan before an action and here she was-. . . Overthinking the problem.

Kat let go of the bench and ducked. She snatched up the reigns and started to stand. The carriage bounced and pitched, throwing Kat off balance. She was just quick enough to grab the edge of the bench before she would've fallen onto the horse. She looked up, trying to gauge her chances at getting back in the seat without help. It was a lost cause. "Slow down!" She tried feebly.

Experimentally, she touched the horse's flank. When it didn't give, when she was sure it was solid, she put her foot up on it. Sucking in three quick breaths, she pushed off and hopped up into the seat. With a triumphant wince of burning agony from her shoulder, she stared at the valley fast approaching.

They had sped up at her pulling but the only other thing she'd ever seen people do with a wagon was snapping the reigns. Was that how this worked? Kat licked her lips. "Slow!" She cracked the reigns. "Slow _down_."

To her surprise the animals began to ease their gallop.

"Hah!" Kat cracked the reigns again and again. The animals slowed down to a lazy trot just in time to take the downward turn of the road. She glanced back to see the spell cloud still roiling down the walls. It likely wouldn't be long before they mobilized some kind of response but with any luck Kat'd be long gone by then. "Let's see. . . uh." Kat gave a slight pull on the reigns and the horses picked up the pace down the slope. It was a comfortable pace that they didn't seem to have any problems keeping up without loosing control of the carriage. They continued down until they reached the valley floor where Kat pulled harder to give them a distinct lead on whomever might pursue them.

"Now how do we turn. . ." She gave a slight pull to the left and the horses obeyed without hesitation, both speeding up and turning to the left to follow the trail. The trail lead into a densely packed forest several hundred feet ahead. Beyond the thin veil of bright green leaves, shadows cloaked most of the deeper forest in gloom so thick she was sure none of the day's sunlight would be able to pierce it.

"Found it!" _Litayna_'s voice came from the rear of the cabin. Kat looked back. She was climbing up the back but stopped when she saw the arrows. Her expression went slightly slack as she looked at Kat accusitorially. "What happened? I thought you said you could handle this thing!"

"I said I couldn't!"

She nodded thoughtfully. "Guess that explains the noise- Hey, you're bleeding."

"No kidding! I was trying to tell you to-"

"Duck."

"No, I-" _Aww crap._ Kat looked forward just in time to see the branch that hit her in the face. "Oof!"

She was out before her head hit the carriage.

When she came to it was dark out and her body ached all over. A fire burned nearby, casting flickering shadows over her body and fought off the chill of the night which kept creeping in around the circle of light. As the sensations registered, Kat saw the twins playing with some instruments; one had a flute and the other a mandolin. The one was wearing a green skirt- presumably the one that'd dragged Kat into this mess in the first place. The other was wearing a skimpy silk outfit that barely covered her breasts and hung down from her hips with a white lined strip of cloth dangling between her legs to mid knee length. She wore stockings that came up to her mid thigh and matching gloves that stopped just below her bicep. In her hands, the flute almost seemed to dance with the kiss of music.

Kat groaned.

The sisters turned back to look at her unenthusiastically.

"Ah, you're awake." The woman with the flute stopped playing. "How do you feel?"

"Like my head got bashed in by an orc."

"Not far from the truth!" The girl in the skirt chirped.

"Can we get you anything?"

"An explanation would be nice. . ." Kat lifted herself up to a seat. She felt woozy, bracing her hands behind her. "Why'd you leave me up there? I didn't know anything about-"

"I really thought you said you did!"

The woman in the flute shot her sister a disapproving look. "What happened?"

"What? I thought she-"

"Get inside. Mother would have your hide if she knew what you were putting this poor girl through."

"Blah, blah, blah. She did great! And besides, we're out of the city now, so-"

"Shoo!"

_Litayna _scrambled out of her sister's reach, bounding around the fire, over towards Kat. She stopped just long enough to reach up and ruffle Kat's hair with a bright smile. "You did great!"

"Lit." Her twin crossed her arms under her breasts. "Now."

"Aww. Spoiled sport."

Kat slumped back against the forest floor to keep from passing out. The world was still spinning and she couldn't tell whether she was sitting on an incline or flat ground. She laid there for a moment in silence and closed her eyes, trying to get her bearings. "Ugh."

"I'm sorry." The other woman approached, kneeling down beside her. "My sister can be a bit rambunctious."

"That's one word for it. Duplicitous is another one."

"Now let's not get carried way." Her voice was soothing, warm and slightly protective. Kat opened her eyes to see the woman kneeling down beside her, looking down with a soft, concerned expression. Her skin was bronzed perfectly, decorated in faint, barely visible tribal tattoos that glittered in the flickering light as though it was water on her skin, glistening only when the light caught it just so. Kathrine's gaze followed a particular chain of tattoos up the woman's thigh, around her tight stomach and over her chest to her neck. Seeming to catch the look, she smiled slightly and laid her hand on Kat's shoulder. "She means well but she over stepped her bounds. If you'd let us, I'd like to make it up to you."

Kat blinked. "S- She had said she'd help me get to Mount Envsta. If we can do that, that'd be _really_ nice. I'm kind of in a hurry."

"How many fingers am I holding up?"

"Uh. . ." She squinted at the upheld hand. "Three?"

"Exactly my point. You need to rest and recover a bit."

A surge of cold air swept over her and Kat looked over to where she'd been laying, finding her coat balled up to serve as a pillow. "I'll be okay."

"It's night time, too, there's nothing to be gained by throwing ourselves into the maw of the forest. It'll just have to wait until dawn."

Kat groaned.

The girl's hand lingered on Kat's shoulder as she smiled down patiently. "Patience wins any race. I'm sure whatever you feel you need to do can wait for a few hours, don't you think?"

She tried to sit up but a sudden wave of dizziness forced her back down. "Urgh. Yeah, I guess so."

"That's the spirit." Slowly, almost reluctantly, she pulled her hand back, trailing a line against Kat's shoulder. "I applied some salve to your shoulder and bound it, I hope you don't mind." She smiled revealing a row of perfect teeth. "In the morning we can see about removing the blood stains."

"T- Thanks." Kat smiled weakly. "But, hey, what was that all about?"

She pursed her lips, considering for a moment. "My sister has a way of getting under people's skin from time to time. Something about an upset noble or some such rot. We really do have Cormyrian travel papers, but she'd locked them away. It was a misunderstanding, you see."

"One hell'f a misunderstanding."

"I did apologize." She said evenly. "And if you want, I'm sure we'd be happy to make it up to you." A slight smile lit her sculpted face. "She's quite smitten with you."

Kat blinked, staring at her. "You're serious."

"I am."

"Jeez, that's. . . kindda forward, don't you think?"

She stood up slowly. "At least we're on the same page. The offer is there, I've some things to do." With that she stepped around Kat, leaving her there to stare up at the sky. Her head throbbed and her body ached. She was cold and hungry and thirsty and she'd been propositioned, almost lewdly by someone who'd not so many hours ago thrown her to the wolves.

"Adventure my a-"

"What's that?" The woman glanced back.

"Nothing!" Kat curled up against her coat and scooted closer to the fire. She laid there, shivering against the night as her vision slowly came back to some semblance of normality. Her body still ached but her thoughts and her ability to see had returned to functional levels. In some way she kind of wished they hadn't. The cold ground and her balled up coat were pale, empty imitations of Bree's warmth.

She was dangerous, deceptive and had a hidden agenda that Kat could only begin to guess at, yet for all her failings, she was also warm and tender; powerful and respectable to an extreme. For their brief time together, she'd fulfilled a aching need in Kat's life that she hadn't even realized was there. It was a need to be held, challenged and utterly, hopelessly, dominated by an intellectually superior woman. She had done it all and then some but she'd never once crossed any lines or hurt Kat. She was the kind of lover Jez could've only dreamed of being.

Kat wanted it. More than anything, she wanted that kind of acceptance and passion. Love or not, it was only in the absence of Bree's addicting nature that she felt truly lost. To the hell with the cold, she wanted to be warm and cared for. Wasn't that what anyone wanted?

Kathrine swallowed, gnawing into her lower lip. The twins had offered that, hadn't they?

Could they really have taken Bree's place, though?

Did it matter? A day and she'd be back in Eveningstar burying that cursed relic.

Kat peeked over her shoulder at the carriage. The door was open just slightly, light pouring freely from between the crack. She sighed and looked back to the fire.

She didn't _need_ those things. She could be better without it. Sure, they were attractive, but could they really have taken care of her the way Bree had? To make her forget the real world and loose herself in the passion of another? Not likely.

A gentle breeze blew over Kat's bare arms, carrying the chill of the night like a blanket that wrapped tightly around her. She shivered involuntarily.

She could be better without them. She had learned to adapt when Jez was gone and. . .

Who was she trying to kid? She hadn't adapted at all. She'd substituted one failed relationship for a string of trysts and one night stands promising herself, every single time, that she'd do better next time. She'd be more in control, she'd spend time building a relationship with those who's names she didn't even know half the time. It'd worked, the relationships, but the end result was almost always the same; she woke up in a bed with someone she didn't really care for, comparing them to Jezebel, wondering why she hadn't just locked herself in the room that night instead.

But then there was Bree. The first person since Kathrine was a child that could actually and honestly challenge everything she held dear and everything she thought she knew without even trying to. Kat grabbed her coat and hugged it close. What was she doing right now? Wondering why Kat stole the relic? Why she _abandoned_ her friend and lover?

Kat stole another glance towards the carriage. Maybe she could've slept with them. Just to stay warm. After all, it was pretty chilly. What could it hurt? Slowly she rose, still hugging her coat to her chest as she stood there.

"Yeah. . . What could it hurt?"


	30. Volume 6: IPTA Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Kathrine's mind was awake before her body the next morning. She knew she was warm, safe, but it wasn't real. It was nothing more than a pleasant illusion fueled by her wish for it to be. She felt small arms wrapped around her, a leg over hers. The slow breathing of bodies at rest and the gentle scent of jasmine and grass after an early morning rain. Yet no matter what she did, she couldn't convince herself she was actually _safe_. It wasn't Bree and it hadn't been anything more than meaningless sex.

She was sore, not unpleasantly, but it wasn't Bree. She needed to remember that for some reason.

Why?

Kat drew in a slow breath trying to make sense of the nagging voice in the back of her mind as she became more aware of the things around her. The carriage was long, with a focus on making the most out of the available space. Every nook and cranny had been packed with pieces of art, sculptures or small items that seemed to have no significance but pulsed with minor magic enchantments. In the far corner, the pull down bed had been ringed with drawers loaded with little trinkets and clear glass jars full of exotic reagents Kat had never heard of before.

Maybe that was why she didn't feel safe. Unlike Bree, these women- girls in truth- didn't put up a false pretense about what they did. Their illicit activities didn't _seem_ all that dangerous but they were thieves of some sort. She could've been totally mistaken, though. Maybe her time with Bree had made her cynical.

"Mgh." She reached up and rubbed her eyes as she snuggled into the warmth pressing against her sides. She wasn't under any demands in this moment, she could relax for a little bit; it wouldn't kill her. Kathrine sighed softly, reaching her hand down to trace the slender bones of the arms across her bare chest. They weren't strong like Bree, nor were they confident like she was. They were pale imitations and despite their creativity, they just couldn't compare to her endurance and unwavering desire to please her partner. . .

_Gods above, I'm doing it again. _Kat groaned quietly to herself. _They're not Bree, fine, done and over with, can we move on, please?_

Slowly, Kat shifted her weight and squirmed, trying to sit up without disturbing the elves. The moment she moved, the twin who'd been playing the flute snuggled up to her. During the corse of the night she had wound up with Kat's shirt which she now wore like a blanket. She smiled a little when Kat looked at her.

"Care for another-"

"We really need to get going. I have to be back on-" Kat bit her lip. "_at_ I have to be _at_ the World Serpent. . ."

"Aww, phooey." The _Litayna _behind her wrapped her leg tighter around Kat's thigh. She'd learned that they'd taken to calling one another Lit and Ayna to avoid confusion, but in the end, and given the context, she really hadn't much cared to differentiate the two. But now it was becoming an issue. "Just a few more hours?"

_Like that'd happen._ Kat exhaled. "No, really, I _need_ to go. B- But. . . I mean, y'know, it was fun and everything."

"Typical." Anya mused softly, though her little smirk never really left her lips. "Ah, well." She reached up to touch Kat but when Kat pulled away, she let it go and shrugged. "It _was_ fun, though."

"Uh huh. Can we get going?"

"Pushy, pushy. You're lucky you're so cute, or I'd totally leave you outside!" Lit hopped off the bed and tumbled through the isle between some priceless works of art. In a flurry she grabbed up her clothes and had them back on faster than Kat could even blink. "Fine, fine! Onward to adventure!" Lit ducked outside and scrambled over the top of the carriage so she could take the reigns once more.

Kat sighed as she hauled herself up, grabbing her own clothes. When it came to her shirt she looked at Anya. "Can I have that back, please?"

"Maybe you'd prefer to earn it back instead?"

Kat frowned. "Didn't we already do that last night?"

She set her hands behind her on the bed and looked up at Kat with a catty smile. "We could really use your talents, Kitten. You'd be amazed how hard it is to find a good wizard and you've the abilities of someone beyond your race-"

"I'm sorry, I'm just not interested."

"Fair enough." She pulled the shirt over her head unceremoniously and tossed it to Kat. Somehow despite her clearer head, Kat still found herself drinking in the girl's beauty. All she could do was nod her appreciation, not trusting herself to speak. "It was fun though."

"Mhm. . ." Kat's cheeks burned as she slipped her shirt over her head. It smelled more like them than it ever did her. She bit her lower lip. Not Bree. Not Jez. She needed to focus on what she was after. That should've been her only priority.

She slipped her coat over her shoulders, drew a deep breath and shoved her hands in her pockets. Her fingers curled around the medallion in her right pocket protectively as much to feel its weight as reassure herself that the twins hadn't discretely added it to their collection while she slept. Maybe she was getting cynical, but this was too important to just leave to chance.

Of course, if she'd been thinking _that_ way, she wouldn't have slept with them in the first place. "Meh. . ."

"Something wrong?"

"Eh. Nothing. . ."

"All right. We'll get you home in no time. Don't worry." The woman smiled softly, reassuringly, before she stood up. "You can trust us."

Something about it set the hair on the back of Kat's neck on end but she couldn't quite tell what. "I'll, uh, go help Lit. . ."

# # # #

They bounced up the rocky road that wound through the tightly packed trees for most of the day, the silence between the three of them only seemed to thicken the further they got towards the portal the dwarf had told Kat about. It wasn't like any of them had done anything wrong, yet Kat's growing sense of unease made the hairs on the back of her neck bristle. Maybe it was their method or something, though their continual state of heightened awareness about the environment around them suggested that perhaps they expected something to come at them from the trees.

Kathrine ran her hand through her hair and took a deep breath of the damp air. The smell of the forest reminded her of home but she just couldn't bring herself to relax in the company of the vigilant elves. They didn't have weapons of any sort that Kat could see, so she could understand their reservation and yet there was something else that gnawed at them. Even as they crept out of the forest it didn't ease up. Finally she asked. "Is something bothering you two? Did I do something wrong?"

"No." They replied in unison. Lit glanced at her and shrugged. "Just don't like woods. They get all spooky even during the day."

"Forgive me for generalizing but-"

"Yep! Pointy ears, long life, majeek ability? I know! So why not forests?"

"Uh huh. . .?"

Anya interrupted. "It's a long story that we don't need to go into right now."

"Spoiled sport."

"Hmph."

Kat smirked. "It's okay. I just thought-"

"Maybe that's your problem! Too much thinking going on in that pretty head of yours."

"Lit. Enough. She's a good girl." Anya glanced over at Kat with a slight smile that made her cheeks warm for some reason. "Isn't that right?"

Kat cleared her throat and glanced away.

"Hah!"

"Bleh."

"Uhoh." Lit slowed the carriage. "Check it out."

The road followed a hill into an open plain and continued in a deliberate curve off to the left several hundred feet ahead. At the crook of that curve was a wagon with its wheels broken, lying in a heap next to open crates of wood replacement parts. An old man was trying to use a pole to leverage the wagon up enough so that he could slide a crate under and replace the broken wheel but every time he tried, the wagon would get the better of him and drop. This cycle continued a couple of times before Lit brought their carriage to a stop, glancing around.

"What is-" Kat started before she understood. They were expecting an ambush. "There's no cover, why would someone ambush us here?"

"Something doesn't smell right about this." Lit looked up to the sky for a moment as though it might provide answers. "Don't like it, nope nope."

"Hm. I agree." Anya sighed. "You know what to do."

"Yah!" Lit yanked on the reigns and the horses started forward at a full gallop. In seconds it became a sprint as the horses picked up speed, dragging the carriage with them at full tilt. The carriage bucked and bobbed, forcing Kat and Anya to grab the side or risk falling off. They tore up the road at a blinding pace, closing in on the old man and his wagon faster and faster.

"What're we-"

"Not stopping!"

"Kind of figured!"

Lit wrapped the reigns around her tiny wrists as they closed in on the old man. He turned and waved a hand, his kindly face lit with the prospect of being helped but it almost instantly fell as he realized what was going on. Instead of backing away, though, he raised his hands near his chest, his expression becoming distant like he was retreating into himself. Kat knew the expression well. He was a mage.

"Oh crap."

"Called it!" Lit yanked harder on the reigns.

The man's hands began moving quickly in time with a whisper from his lips. Kat knew the spell even by the second gesture and began focusing her attention on him. She could feel the energy coalescing in his hands, trailing his fingertips like hot coals ready to lash out. Kathrine worked in reverse, using one of her preparations of magic missile and unmaking it just as fast as he could draw the power forth. He wasn't paying attention to what'd happened and when he went to unleash it, it sparked blue across his fingers but stopped right there. He locked eyes with Kat and narrowed his eyes.

Kat stuck her tongue out.

Anya glanced over at her and smirked. In another second she flicked her wrist toward the man just as they sped by him. Kat saw him tumble back but she couldn't see why.

Her attention was quickly diverted by the pounding of hooves against the road from behind. A dozen men on horse back stepped from seemingly nothing into the full light, bows drawn, aiming squarely at them. Kat frowned. "Faster!"

"Not so much!"

"Why not?" Kat looked forward to see another dozen raiders baring down on them from the front. "Oh."

"Oh, indeed! This's gonna be fun." Lit smiled to herself though Kat could see the beading sweat on her forehead.

Kat's mind was already working out a solution even before she felt the carriage begin slowing down. "I've got something for those chasing us, can you buy me some time?"

"Sure! All major forms of credit vouchers and bank checks accepted-" An arrow punched a spot between them, burying itself into the seat with a solid _tock_. "Now's good!"

Kathrine turned towards their rear and murmured broken Draconic, bringing her focus to bare and pointedly ignoring the arrows slapping into the heavy wood on either side of her. When she was finished a thick plume of impenetrable darkness erupted right behind the carriage creating a veil four times as wide as the road through which neither she nor the raiders could see. She smiled in satisfaction.

"What the hells is that?" Anya's uncharacteristically surprised voice sent a chill up Kat's spine.

She looked forward just in time to hear the heavy _crunch_ of wood on wood overhead. A long ship made of deep cherry colored wood with a gleaming silver sphinx for its prow was flying toward them at a slow speed. Another, smaller ship lacking any of the bigger one's splendor was plowing itself up against the flank of the larger ship baring down on both the raiders and the carriage. "Bree. . . Oh _shit._"

"Friend of yours?" Lit looked over.

"N- Not exactly!"

"Problem, then!"

"Huh?"

"I don't like problems!"

Still in shock from the sight of the vessels overhead, Kathrine didn't really understand what was going on until she felt a tiny foot kick her in the side with such force that it ripped the air from her lungs. She was tumbling over the side of the seat in the next moment, numbly watching as the ground approached at a furious pace.


	31. Volume 6: IPTA Chapter 5

Chapter 5

She hit the ground with a dull thump that ripped the air from her lungs. Tumbling against the grass, end over end, her mind came up with numerous combinations of curse words she'd never considered before. Some part of her, the part that wasn't wondering whether or not she was going to throw up, screamed at her about the danger she was still in. Bree was close. The raiders were closer still. She needed to get her hands on the situation and get moving.

When she finally hit the dirt, face first, her mind clicked a plan together. She'd slip out of the plains and cast invisibility on herself, get to the portal the dwarf had pointed her to and get to the World Serpent, then she could get back to Eveningstar, bury the relic, and make herself scarce. It was a sound plan. All she had to do was get up.

She tried not to whine too much as blood flowed from her nose. It wasn't broken but it throbbed and made her eyes water, blurring her vision enough that she couldn't tell quite whether she was right side up or not. She heard the clopping of hooves a moment before she could clear her vision. The horses didn't stop, though, chasing after the real prize, the carriage.

A similar chase was taking place in the sky with Bree's ship being rammed now from both sides at a triangular angle trying to drive her into the ground. The men and women on either of the smaller ships were aiming crossbows or preparing magic spells to launch at Bree who, for all her calm composure simply looked straight ahead with her hands clasped behind her back. Kat soon understood why.

Nyx's form crawled up the underside of the ship on the right hand side, his powerful claws made the gravity defying stunt look comically easy even before he pushed off and took flight. The large sphinx bowled over the two men on the deck which forced the ship to pitch immediately rightward as the captain tried to get away from his attacker. The ship did a complete roll on its way down and plowed into the dirt, upheaving hundreds of feet worth of earth in every direction.

Kat looked back up the road to see the raiders gaining on the twin elves. They were only a few feet behind now and one of the men was preparing to jump on the back of the carriage. Her jaw clenched so tight she could feel her teeth grinding together. Leaving them would surely mean their death but they'd been ready to abandon her without so much as a thought. They'd used her just like Bree was going to and yet. . .

She couldn't let that happen. They didn't _deserve_ to die.

She raised her hands, preparing her mind for what was to come.

A rope hooped over her shoulders, brushed her arms and tightened around her stomach. It jerked. Hard.

"Irk!" Kat's feet left the ground when the man on the horse pulled her and hooked the rope around his saddle horn. She flailed but it was too late. Her back hit the dirt and knocked the wind out of her for a second time. She could hear the thumping of hooves as she was being dragged behind the horse but it was distant, muffled. Her mind worked feverishly to try and force her to breathe again but it wasn't listening any more.

Little stones and the friction from the dirt clawed at her back and legs as she flailed, trying to get her feet under her for whatever good it might do. The horse rode faster and faster until he was keeping pace with the other raiders. The heavy clops of the hooves reverberated through Kat's skull like a drum. She needed to get _away_ but how?

_Think. Think. Think._

Her back was on fire. The little pebbles had become rocks. Rocks that were cutting into her shirt now. She groaned. _THINK_.

She wiggled in the rope trying to pull her hands together but it was just too tight. Tight enough to steal the air from her lungs if it went any higher. She blinked. _Aha!_ It was a blinding flash of inspiration that made her heart swell. Absently she worked out the possibilities and gritted her teeth. If she screwed up, she'd likely be strangled to death if she was lucky. If she wasn't, her face would probably be painting the road for a few hundred feet.

With a quick glance up to make sure the horseman wasn't paying attention, she sucked in a deep breath and tried to dig her heel into the dirt. She got a little purchase but her heel slammed into a rock forcing her foot from under her. A gash in the fabric reminded her that her thin cloth boots weren't made for this kind of punishment. Neither was she.

Kat dug her left foot in and shoved off at an awkward angle, re twisting her ankle painfully and shoving herself weakly to the side. She pitched sideways on her side giving a brief but welcome reprieve for her back before she landed almost flat on her butt. "Ngh!" She pushed off again with everything she had and this time she managed just enough momentum to turn herself so her feet were towards the horse. Her feet flailed but she recovered quickly, wrapping the rope around her right leg. Once there she pulled herself down against the rope and slipped her left foot under her right foot so she could lock the tension on the rope. It only gave a little bit, now mostly dragging on her right leg but she used what little leverage she'd gained to hook her thumbs under the rope and claw at the knot around her stomach.

Her thigh burned as the road dirt and pebbles ground into the soft velveteen fabric of her pants, tearing it apart as though it were old paper. She growled to herself, struggling with the knot even more. When she finally got her fingers into the knot she could feel blood drawing up her thigh and into the dirt. In another breath she had the knot undone, releasing her to the unforgiving road.

The horsemen kept after the carriage at full speed and now, at the rise of the hill they were on, Kat could see a small camp set up hundreds of feet down the road. Caged carts easily the size of their carriage held men and women wearing what appeared to be travel clothes, cloaks and walking sticks had been piled up beside a number of small crates near the cages and young women in black leathers were in the process of hooking up the carts to horses in full bridal. They looked up at the chase and then to each other. They grabbed their bows just as Kat stopped rolling.

Her body hurt all over now but the adrenaline coursing through her veins kept her from passing out despite her panting. She always got that way on an adrenaline rush, dizzy, sick to her stomach but wholly and utterly _alive. _Kat looked back over her shoulder when she saw something move in her peripheral vision.

Bree's ship was hovering hundreds of feet above the ground but the woman herself was looking over the side with her head resting lazily on her palm and her elbow on the rail. They locked gazes for just the briefest moment before she smiled. It was the soft smile of an old friend, not the smile of someone who was angry.

Maybe she wasn't mad at Kat.

She still couldn't have the relic.

Kat checked her pocket to make sure it was there, sighing her relief when her trembling hand found the raised metal medallion. She looked back toward the camp, already preparing her invisibility spell as she considered her options. Her skin was warm in places where she was sure she was bleeding but she couldn't look, she _wouldn't_ be side tracked by little details so long as lives were at stake.

The travelers in the cages looked on with mild passing interest as though they'd seen the display a few times before but already knew how it'd end. For their part in it, the twin elves were keeping remarkably controlled. Even with four men on the back of the carriage, Anya stood her ground in a defensive posture to protect her sister and secondarily keep them from getting any closer.

But that's when it all went wrong. The four lunged at Anya, using their superior numbers to overwhelm the tiny elf. Two of the men pinned her down under their weight and the other two went to intercept Lit. In seconds they'd taken full control of the runaway carriage and the struggle was over.

Kat glanced up at Bree. The woman looked to the camp and then to Kat. An expression crossed her face that was easily readable even with the distance 'what can you do?'. She shrugged a moment later.

"I'll show you. . ." Kat whispered and started her spell. Once invisible, she started down the road at a brisk walk, trying to skirt the line between where the dirt road started and the grass ended to minimize the stirring of any loose dust.

Lit and Anya were being dragged off the carriage when Kat got near the large group of men. Their leader, an older man with salt and pepper facial hair and black leathers stopped just short of the gathering of men around the elves. Lit lashed out with a little knife at one of the men and caught his face just above the nose. He snarled and drew his hand back.

Kat clenched her jaw.

The leader's voice rumbled loudly even with the other man's painful howl. "Enough!" He shot the man a look. "Touch a hair on her head and I'll make sure your eyes are removed from your skull."

"But-"

"I've said my piece. Get them in the cage and unload their cargo. We don't have much time. Where's the human?"

"Ah-" Both the leader and the horseman that'd been drgging her looked at the empty rope.

"Find her!"

Kat ducked low, grabbing a rock from the road. When she was sure no one was looking her way she stood up and spun to get some extra momentum before unleashing it into the air. It sailed for a dozen paces or more and landed loudly in the knee high grass, tumbling around with a soft crackling sound.

"Over there!" One of the men said quietly even as she snuck up near the camp. Only a few feet away from the group of men and the two elves, Kat held her breath. Waiting.

A half dozen of them chased the sound putting the carriage between them and the other group. Kat saw her opportunity and made the most of it. She was close enough to smell the rancid odor of unwashed bodies in the cage cart, the only form of reliable cover to be found. She whispered the incantation for a Sleep spell, choosing a spot near the group even as some of the people in the cart looked her way. The invisibility spell was fading, she knew it was but it was too late now. She loosed the spell into the center.

At once the humans, men and women alike, collapsed against one another or against the carriage itself. Even the leader went down leaving Lit and Anya standing in the center like a pair of flowers in a pile of driftwood. They looked at one another and then to Kat. Almost automatically Lit opened her mouth to speak but Anya clamped a hand over it. Kat put a finger to her lips, glancing up at the travelers and nodding.

Her adrenaline was fading fast and her body's aches were becoming screaming pains all across her skin but Kat forced herself to move, slinking up to the carriage even as some of the men nuzzled up to one another and snored. The twins came up to Kat's side, murmuring.

"I'll take the two on the right-"

"No." Kat winced. "No one dies. Get those people out of there. Hurry up before these guys wake up."

"What about you?" Anya's hand slipped to Kat's shoulder. Kat shrugged it off.

"I'll be alright."

"That woman's coming back for another pass."

Kat glanced up to the sky as Bree's ship turned a lazy arc in the air. A moment behind her was another pair of smaller, lighter wood ships that cut through the air like wasps. They brushed past Bree's prow, crashing into it spectacularly. But they didn't stop.

They were coming for Kat.

"Aww come on, really?"

"Popular girl!"

"Shut up, Lit." Anya chided. "Why're they after you?"

"I have something they want." Kat took a deep breath. "Get these people out of here." She stepped from around the carriage. The incantation came quickly, almost by muscle memory; a cloud of thick white mist rose from the depths of the grass, choking the air from around the men. There was coughing and cursing. They shouted at one another but had no sense of direction by which to escape. Kat had bought some time but not much.

"Let's go, folks! Hup to, hup to." Lit was leading the travelers from the back of the cage up the ladder to the top of their carriage with Anya assisting where she could.

"Lit. Shut up."

Kathrine looked around and stopped at one of the horses. She swallowed. The small sloop-like vessel above them buzzed their heads but didn't dare risk landing with Bree's so close by. Her larger ship was slower to turn or change direction but the moment she focused the beaten prow on the smaller one it gained altitude to get away from her. Somehow they'd figured out Kat had it and not Bree.

She didn't have much time.

The secondary ship brushed against the rear hull of Bree's ship trying to force it to the side but Nyx was quick to jump overboard and start playing havoc. They'd been prepared for that. One of the mages onboard send an arc of electricity towards him.

Kat patted the horse weakly. Her body was trembling even as she grabbed the saddle, slid her foot in the stirrup and pushed off. She was twenty miles from where she needed to be. She could make it. . . Or at least buy the twins time to get the raiders' victims back to the city. Her thighs throbbed, her back hurt and everything she was told her she needed to rest for a while or at least ask for a healing blessing of some sort. But there wasn't time.

She needed to go.

Painfully, she hefted the leather reigns in her bloody hands. "Yah!"


	32. Volume 6: IPTA Chapter 6: End V6

Chapter 6

The horse started forward at a trot as the sloop tearing through the air above her tried to make another dive. Bree's massive ship wasn't far behind and the darker colored wood of her vessel made its long hull made it look as though a volcanic rock had taken flight. She was quickly gaining on the sloop but with every attempt she made to get closer, the Oghman's ship would pitch upwards or to the side, destroying any chance she'd have of ramming him.

Kat stole a glance back to make sure the twin elves were loading the freed prisoners onto their carriage. They were almost done. She'd be able to buy them little more than a couple minutes but it looked as though they were making the best of it. She cracked the reigns again trying to urge the horse onward. "Yah!"

The horse continued its own pace which was certainly faster than she could walk but a far cry from anything she'd seen from the other stallions, especially the one that'd been dragging her. "Please yah?" She tried again. "Come onnnn."

Her body hurt from her feet to her head, her back was on fire from pebels and dirt that'd embedded themselves in her skin and she was bleeding in several places yet the only thing that continually kep banging in her mind was the crash of the horses hooves putting distance between herself and the refugees. She'd seen how the Oghmans disregarded life in pursuit of the relic and now that they knew she had it, everyone was expendable. "YAH! Come on!"

When the horse didn't speed up she looked up to the sky to check her pursuers. Bree's ship was cant at an awkward angle with its rear tilted up so the thickest part of its hull was aimed at one of the two sloop ships. A fireball was in the process of exploding near the very rear of the hull sending shards of smoldering wood in every direction and burning a hole the size of a small wagon through the ship. The instant it exploded, Bree slammed the rear end down as though to crush the smaller ship. It darted to the right just in time to avoid the massive weight but Bree was quick to recover, sliding quickly to the right and hiding the new hole from any potential intruders.

Kat tried yet again to crack the reigns. "Come on, go!" She huffed and gave a yank on the reigns instead, remembering her lesson from the horses attached to the twins carriage. Instead of speeding up, the horse slowed almost to a stop.

Seizing the opportunity, the ship ahead of Bree made a quick dive right for Kat. The plunge was rapid enough that she had a hard time tracking it until it was only a dozen feet from her, baring down on her like a sledge hammer. She didn't need to be alive for them to get the relic. She screamed and jerked forward, slamming her heels into the horses' flanks on accident as she tried to get out of the stirrups.

The horse took off at a dead sprint. It's heavy clopping hooves tore up the dirt road and already gave her a small lead on the thick prow of the ship that was now only feet away. Kat could feel the suction it generated threatening to yank her off the animal as she clawed at the reigns and lowered herself, trying to keep from falling off. She was already loosing control of the situation but she couldn't help it; the hammering of the horse's pace kept driving the saddle up jostling her left and right every time she tried to get a hand hold. The horse was in charge and she was merely along for the ride.

Kat felt something brush by her face an instant before she felt a singe of pain graze her cheek. She looked back briefly, noticed a man with a crossbow and kicked her heels back into the horse's flanks. "Gogogogo!" She hunkered down against the saddle, rising off the leather enough that she was practically standing to keep from being bounced around. It was awkward and it didn't _feel_ right but in the absence of something better she worked with what she knew.

Meanwhile, the prow of the ship inched still closer to the rear of the horse. She was sure it was touching the back of his tail and at any second she'd feel a hand grab her or it'd overtake them and run her down. Bree wasn't there to save her, either, she was after the amulet just like they were. She needed to think. And fast.

All of her reagents for her Bewildering Cloud spells were spent by now, leaving her with a compliment of general utility reagents. None of which were useful to her at the moment. She had her wands, none of which were particularly useful- the only thing a Shield or a healing want would do for her would be to make her look healthy before she was turned into paste.

_Come on. Think._

She'd been six and a half when she cast her first spell. Almost by accident, she'd been experimenting with the reagents her mentor had been making her memorize and going through the verbage for a spell she'd never heard of; Color Spray. It was a basic spell but the exciting image her mind generated made her think of a portable rainbow made the concept sound absolutely thrilling. Her cat had been directly in the path of the chaotic burst of multi-colored lights and from that day until her final breath refused to be anywhere near Kat unless she was sleeping. Kathrine had learned a lot that day about the consequences of using magic irresponsibly, yet in any given context, it still struck her as amusing.

There wasn't time to even consider casting anything, to say nothing of being able to have the presence of mind to do so, but she had the reagents. _That's it!_

Kat wrapped the reigns around her arm and reached into one of the pockets lining her coat. Her breath came in haggard sips that strained her throat. The man's crossbow was aiming at her head. With one chance to her name, she stole a final breath and held it. She jerked the reigns to the side and the horse followed suit, pitching sideways. She pulled on them to slow him down.

The crossbowman locked gazes with her. He was an older man in his mid forties that looked like someone she could've been friends with. He shouldered the weapon. Kat threw a handfull of red, yellow and blue colored sand right in his face. She'd packed enough for several castings of Color Spray but in one motion it was all gone. The man narrowed his watery eyes, straining to focus on her against the grit. He shouted indistinctly and slapped the trigger of his weapon.

Kat ducked but not quick enough.

Pain clawed across the left side of her rib cage. It brushed past the rashes on her back, slicing open the flesh as the bolt grazed her back and punched a hole in her coat only to disappear into the grass. She did her best not to shout in surprise but her body was already working for her. She grabbed the reigns with both hands and kicked the horse's flanks as best she could. Faster and faster the animal bucked, eventually eclipsing the flying ship and it's crew.

With just a hair's lead on them, Kat's heart surged fresh adrenaline into her system, deadening the pain slightly as she re-settled herself in the saddle. "Go!" The horse tried to go faster, pumping his hooves harder still against the road but it was killing him, she knew it if only by his breathing. They'd never make it at this rate. He'd drop first.

A stiff breeze blew over the plains and for a moment a shadow swept over the charging horse, plunging Kat's world into shade. She didn't have time to look up but she could feel the tingle of magic run its fingers through her hair. A beat later she heard the scream.

One of the men on the deck of the sloop shouted. His voice quickly died in a thick, wet _gurgle_. The sound gave way almost immediately to a heavy crunch of wood on wood. It sounded like timbers creaking and giving way under the weight of something much heavier before it smashed into the ground sending splinters in every direction. A low rumble pounded Kat's back as whatever it was that landed on the sloop shoved it into the ground and their combined momentum plowed a furrow through the dirt.

Kat didn't stop. She didn't slow down. Her only goal was to get away, not worry about a fight that wasn't hers. Even if she might've been the cause of it.

The plains banked gently into another valley, down a shallow hill and then further down into the bowl of a much deeper valley where the road dead ended seemingly into the cliff face. It couldn't have been more than a mile in front of her and at their current pace they'd have hit the portal in minutes. She took a quick glance around, noticing a mountain to the right, only half the distance it would've taken to get to the portal.

She stole a look back to see Bree's long cherry wood ship and its battered silver prow lifting up slowly from where it'd crushed the sloop flat. There was a small red smear and plenty of broken planks along the under side of the hull but the only thing Bree seemed to be concentrating on was her. She watched Kat with a confident little smile almost like she was a cat toying with a mouse before a meal. She casually walked to the prow and placed both her hands on the rail, her gaze never leaving Kathrine. She knew exactly how this was going to end.

Or she thought she did.

Kat took a sharp right turn and urged the horse on. The dead magic zone was so close she could've thrown a rock and hit it- with a little magical help, maybe- but with the massive ship baring down on her, she may as well have been on another plane entirely. Bree kept a careful distance behind her, a few dozen feet at most. But as she approached, she began gaining altitude so that she could easily approach at an angle of her choosing.

"Yah!" She nudged the horse faster still. "I know it hurts but you'll rest soon." They thundered through the thick grass, the horse's sides were almost heaving with the effort but somehow he managed to push himself onward and Kat hugged herself tight to his body to keep her interference as minimal as possible. "Good boy. Just a bit further-"

At once two things happened that ripped the very air from her lungs. Three ships easily the size of Bree's shimmered into existence ahead of her; massive in size but short and maneuverable looking, they cast shadows over the entire valley like ghosts from some bygone era looking to reclaim life itself. Lining the thick walls of the ships were men and women in robes that glistened in the light of the valley. Some carried crossbows, some had nothing at all and still others had staves in hand. Fixed to the decks of the ships were small catapults already wound back tight and ready to launch.

Secondly, as Kat neared the edge of the valley she saw a sharp drop off eight hundred feet ahead; a crack in the earth as wide as one of the ships was long. It extended for miles in both directions and had no visible bottom, instead sinking further into the earth until shadow overtook the light.

Kathrine had only seconds to make a choice- to turn back would give either Bree or the Oghmans every opportunity to grab her and steal the relic but there was no way she'd be able to get across the chasm. She looked up to see Bree leaning over the prow looking at the ships with an expression of mild amusement. After a moment she rested her chin on her palm and drummed her fingers against her cheek almost as though she was mimicking Kat's mind which was now running circles around itself trying to find a solution.

Go forward or go back, death at the hands of people who'd stop at nothing to keep their secrets or death at the bottom of an abyss. On the one hand, falling into the abyss would mean no one could get the relic. But was she really ready to die for this?

She knew she wasn't but sometimes sacrifices had to be made.

"Yah!" Kat kicked the horses' flanks as hard as she could. Just before she turned her attention from Bree, she saw the look of surprise on the older woman's face. The simple thought that she could confuse and possibly threaten the woman was somehow amusing to her; Bree couldn't quantify everything and even someone like Kat could surprise her now and then. Kathrine smiled at that.

The Oghmans launched the first volley of rocks from the catapults when she was about six hundred feet from the edge. They slammed into the ground behind her with a dull _thump, thump, thump. _She was going too fast for them to get a fix on but the real problem wasn't the rocks. It was the mages.

The ships, now only two hundred feet away, began to turn so their broad sides were facing her, giving the archers and mages plenty of room to pick their shots. Kat grabbed the Shield wand on her belt and activated it, daring to let go of the reigns for just a split second. The thin magic bubble sparked to life with a solid crystalline matrix. She felt the heat of something brush through her hair as one of the arrows slipped through but the next one crashed into the spell.

Eight plumes of bright blue energy bloomed into existence from the ships' mages and tore through the air like vibrant blue snakes seeking their target unerringly. They chased her even as she thundered between the large vessels. The first to touch her Shield splattered uselessly against it followed by a steady rhythmic pounding _crack_ as the magic missiles slammed into her spell. It was the most basic of measure/counter measures but the mages had made the most logical choice of evocations, if only because there was no way they could miss.

What came next would be less fool proof but far more destructive.

Kat sucked in a deep breath and waited for it.

Instead of a fireball or some other high profile evocation, a thick yellowish green billowed up from the grass a hundred feet ahead of her. Kat didn't recognize the spell at all but just from the look of it, her hair bristled on her arms. It was thick and heavy, already falling to the ground as she sucked in a breath in preparation. That's when she saw it.

An image of herself. Standing beside the cliff face. It was dark and indistinct, so completely lost that it had no link to Chauntea at all. It's pale face turned to her and it jumped forward baring its jagged teeth as it flew at her at a blinding speed. It was everything she feared, she knew it; to be as lost and hopeless as Jezebel. Forsaking everything she held dear. It was a Phantasm.

_Ah, shit._ It was a spell. Just a spell.

The image attacked her but Kathrine knew it well for what it was. It was a harmless apparition, an illusion. When it passed through her she didn't even feel it's touch. For all its fury and loneliness, it was just vapor in the wind.

As the horse pounded the dirt and the noxious looking cloud got closer, Kat sucked in a deep breath and clenched her eyes shut, tightening her grip on the reigns. They slipped into the fog and almost instantly they began slowing down like they were moving through syrup. The vapor clung to Kat's body, dragging her down heavily against the horse's back. She felt tired and drained but they didn't stop. The horse kept plowing forward though his breathing was much more labored than before. As they exited the cloud the reigns felt heavier in her hands and her body slumped despite her best attempts to stand up in the saddle.

She was sweating profusely and her adrenaline seemed to vanish into thin air, forcing her body's aches to the forefront of her mind. She wanted to rest. She wanted to lay down and just forget the world for a while. They needed to keep going, though, they were only a couple hundred feet away from the edge.

Whether for freedom or for the peace of death, she was going to keep the relic out of their hands. It was her duty, as a Stoneriver and as a priest- in that order- to protect those in need even if they didn't know it. She wasn't going to fail, not when she had so many proud family members looking down on her. She _couldn't_. Maybe she'd get the chance to help Jezebel in the Fugue, maybe she'd be with her parents again. Maybe. . .

Maybe. . .

They neared the cliff, the end, only a hundred feet away. Kat rose in the stirrups even as arrows drilled into her Shield spell. Another one burned across the outside of her right thigh forcing her to jerk down. "Go!" She growled against the screaming agony sparking across every part of her body. It was too late, they were done for but by the gods, they'd never get the relic.

"Go!"

Kathrine sucked in her final breath as they hit the edge of the cliff. She yanked up hard on the reigns. The horse jumped as hard as it could. Whether by sensing the danger they were in or her command, she couldn't tell. But before she knew it they were in the air.

His powerful legs forced them into the sky, only a few feet off the ground but they had enough momentum to carry them into the middle of the chasm. The air whipped by her head carrying the scents of fresh grass and lilac. In that moment of suspended weightlessness she couldn't feel any pain but the calm acceptance of what was to come. It was time to go home.

It was time to let go.

_Dad, I'll see you soon. . ._

She felt the drag of gravity breaking the spell of weightlessness and they'd started loosing altitude when a thought struck her; even if they did drop all that way down into the abyss, the Oghman's ships would be able to sail down smoothly and sooner or later they'd find her body. They'd still be able to get the artifact no matter how far down she went. So long as there was a sudden stop at the end, they'd get it and her sacrifice would've been in vain.

The horse was loosing momentum and started to flail as he realized they weren't going to reach the other side. They were in spitting distance yet they were starting to fall. It was too late. They'd never make it. _Unless._

Kat's body refused to work at first. Pain welled in her eyes and her boiling anger shunted her desires to the side; she couldn't rest while she had it. They _had_ to be stopped. She screamed out in defiance both to gravity and to her body begging her to rest. Her desires were moot. She served a greater whole and she was going to come hell or high water.

She pulled her foot out of the stirrup and planted it on the saddle horn. Sucking in a quick breath as fresh blood poured down her exposed thigh she grabbed the back of the horse's head and murmured an incantation. _Its time to rest. _Her other leg was trembling as she brought it up so she was standing. Her body screamed in agony without her. The incantation was finished. The magic missile punched a smoldering hole through the horse's head too fast for him to react. It was the only mercy she could give him.

She pushed off as hard as she could and jumped towards the opposite edge of the cliff.

Her arms outstretched, she dived forward. Her fingers touched the grassy dirt and started to slide forward. She tucked herself into a ball and tumbled over the lip into the waiting embrace of the plush grass. The _thump_ of her body slamming into the ground echoed hundreds of times in her mind as if trying to re-enforce the notion that she had made it. She was alive.

Another echo pinged in her mind; the sound of the horse that'd saved her life hitting the chasm wall.

Kathrine rolled over as tears welled up in her eyes. Her overworked mind numbed her to the reality of the situation but she'd still murdered an innocent creature and it'd given its life without even knowing why. She forced herself up to her knees and sobbed once. She was too tired, too pained and it was time to rest. Her head was pounding and she couldn't focus except to see that the three ships had turned to face her now.

Behind them, Bree's long vessel hovered at a discrete distance out of their immediate line of sight. Kat swallowed and clasped her hands together lowering her head to pray. She'd spent everything she had, she knew she needed to ask for help, if only to make the pain stop for a moment. She quietly murmured her prayer, first of thanks and then to ask for a small blessing to take the edge off. There was a subtle pull, like a light being brought close and then snuffed out as though Chauntea had heard her prayer and was offering it but before it'd touch her, it vanished.

Kat blinked. _Oh._

One of the Oghman's long ships pulled out in front of the others by a full body length and started towards her. Her Shield panged with arrows but she couldn't force herself to move. She sat there on her knees, watching in numb silence as the ship entered the air space over the chasm and started to descend. It was slow at first but the captain hadn't realized what was going on until it was far too late. They were in the middle of the null magic area when it finally occured to them what was happening.

The ship's prow dipped sharply and the ship began to plummet. From her vantage, Kat could see the frightened faces of the mages and priests as they tried to activate whatever fail safe measures they had to escape. Others grabbed the side walls of the ship as if it would help. Some reached out for one another. More than one of them looked at her.

Was it terrible that she didn't _feel_ anything? It probably was but she couldn't bring herself to care. It was time to rest. So badly did she need it.

The second ship was turning instead of stopping, caught half way in between the functional magic zone and the dead magic, it hovered in the middle of the chasm but it was already listing to the side like a ship taking on water. Some of the people tried to jump but they fell short.

In the next breath a terrible wooden _crash_ thundered through the valley, grabbing Kat's attention like a slap across the face. Bree's ship was plowed right up the rear end of the third ship and shoving it forward into the chasm. Spells were launched from the deck of the Oghman's ship but Bree had too much momentum behind her and she shoved too fast.

In seconds the two Oghman vessels were plummeting into the cumulative mass grave.

When Bree's vessel began a slow turn so its broadside was facing Kat, she slumped forward even more and grabbed her knees. Only then did she feel herself breathing. She was getting light headed and tired. Her ability to focus was beginning to suffer, too, but she wasn't going to give in. She couldn't. Not now.

Bree chose that moment to step up to the rail of her ship. They looked at one another as Nyx propped himself up on the rail beside her. The three of them stared across the distance, no one looking ready to break the silence.

And then Bree began to clap. Slowly.

Kathrine groaned and hauled herself up, turning away. She still had a long way to go to get back to the World Serpent and it wasn't getting any brighter out. Legs numb and body bloodied, Kat looked up to the mountain she still had to climb yet and uttered the most profane thing she could think of.

_3/16/1381 (Relative)_

"_My father used to say that the five worst words in any sticky situation are 'it could always be worse'. _

_Now I understand why."_

-Diary of Kathrine Stoneriver


	33. Volume 7: Lost and Found: Chapter 1

Chapter 1

_3/16/1381 (Relative?)_

_There was a time, long ago, where I honestly believed that if I was able to find some way to go back in time I could be with my parents and my brother indefinitely. We could all grow old together because I- that is to say, the me of this moment- would be in the house when that man broke in and I'd stop him before he could kill my parents._

_But then I have to stop myself from such fantasies. As much as I hate to think about it, my mind fashions all these scenarios that would have occurred if they hadn't been killed that night. My father would've taken me down to the Palace to enlist both of us when the war came, mom would've been all alone because my brother was already enlisted at this point and. . ._

_And I would've had to watch my father be killed on the field with me right behind him. Somehow I know I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I watched him die right in front of me. I'd have felt like a failure and I'd probably be even more of a wreck than I am now._

_My problems, my flaws, my virtues and my vices. Theses're who I am, born of the things I've been through in life and how things came together. Just like anything, when you remove a cornerstone the whole structure becomes unstable and you stop being able to predict the result. This is exactly that kind of situation. _

_There's another thing, though. Another scenario that has me dying right along with my parents. Just going to bed one night and never waking up. It's peaceful in a way._

_I could do with peace now and then."_

-Diary of Kathrine Stoneriver

Pain was the first thing she remembered. During the uneasy transition from deep sleep to the first threads of consciousness being bound into the fabric of thought and awareness, Kathrine could sense something wasn't entirely 'right'. Her body ached all over but it wasn't anything more than a distant memory. A phantom pain brought on by the demands her mind placed there. She _needed_ to feel it for some reason. She needed to be reminded.

But why?

"Mgh. . ." She turned slightly and felt the pull of sheets and blankets wrapped around her. Reaching up she found a pillow under her head and the smooth kiss of satin against her bare legs. She exerted every bit of will she had left to her to force her eyes open.

A woman was slumped and snoring in a chair beside her bed. She was voluptuous, a pretty redhead with pale skin. Familiar somehow but Kat couldn't place her face. The room itself was rectangular, plain with a simple dresser and dim lights recessed in the ceiling which made it feel as though it was night time, though why was anyone's guess.

Kat laid her head back down, closed her eyes and took a deep breath. And just like that, she was out cold again.

Some indeterminate amount of time later she woke up curled into a ball, clutching the pillow. There was a chair next to her bed in the rectangular room. Atop the plain dresser beside the foot of her bed, white and purple clothes had been neatly folded and beside them an incense cone smoldered in a gold dish.

Her mind was swimming as she sat up and crossed her legs under her. The questions faded in and out of her consciousness; where was she, how had she gotten there, what was she supposed to be doing? Something about a relic. That much was clear. She had to dig through her memories, trying to remember what'd happened. She was running. Running from someone, but why?

Kat grabbed the pillow and held it to her chest. Her body throbbed and her skin itched faintly, suggesting some kind of magical healing had taken place. She was alive because someone helped her. She sighed. At least it was something solid. She'd been hurt, running from someone and she'd been healed. Now where the hell was she?

Another cursory glance around the room brought back some memories, mostly those of her many days hiding in the World Serpent, trying to avoid looking at Arabel or any of the other so called 'civilized' places she'd been to. It'd been her escape when the insanity of the world just got to be too much for her to take on.

The rooms all shared a similar trait that made them unique among inns; they were morphic to the person using them. This would allow an occupant to imagine the room similar to their own native plane and be more at ease with it. Kat had spent weeks 'building' her room just to trying to exhaust the possibilities before finally settling on something that wound up looking suspiciously like her room back at the farm. Yet when they reverted to their default layout, they typically wound up looking completely drab. Much like the room she was in now.

Was that where she was? The World Serpent?

It would've made some sense, but the how and why were still a mystery. Her mind filled in some of the blanks but none of it came together to form any kind of coherent picture; she'd been climbing. She'd had to move fast for fear of someone or something catching her. But _what_?

The doorknob turned and clicked like the clang of swords. She jerked her head, already trying to figure out where she could hide but her body wouldn't respond. She could only sit there and clutch the pillow tighter as it opened.

She saw red hair first, a gentle smile and laughing green eyes next. The woman was young, older than Kathrine but still younger than most, wearing a long set of robes that hid most of her features yet hinted at a definite hour glass figure. If not for the thick arcane spell book she carried, she looked sort of like a priest of Chauntea. No sooner did they make eye contact than the woman's smile turned a bit more sincere and reassuring, as though dealing with someone she knew might potentially be frightened. As she spoke, she reached into a pocket and pulled out a pair of half-moon glasses. "Hey there, how're we feeling?"

"Mgh." Kat strangled the word from her throat. Why did the woman look so familiar? "Naked."

She closed the door behind her. "I did what I could for your wounds but that healing wand really wasn't reliable. Arcane and all, you know how it goes."

Kat blinked. "Huh. N- Not really. But uh. Where'm I?"

"Oh! Yes, of course." The red head set her spell book down on the dresser as she approached. She pulled her robes up slightly and slid to a seat in front of Kat, looking her over carefully. "You're in the World Serpent, it's a pla-"

"I know." She croaked. "Sorry. Just. . . Hazy."

"I bet! I don't know how you did it, honestly. You crawled in quite a fright, we thought for sure you were going to die."

"W- We?"

"Oh, yes. Ah. . . Well, a gentleman helped bring you here, he said he was a friend of yours."

"What'd he look like?" Slowly Kat felt her guard slipping away in the comforting presence of the woman. Perhaps it was the familiarity or the _desire_ for comfort that peeled her concerns away but Kat found her chin resting on the pillow as she listened to her soothing voice flow over her.

"Oh, let's see, he. . . You know? I know he was an older man, pleasant one too, very soft spoken. But I can't recall more specific features. It's been a tenday, sweety."

"A _tenday_?!"

"Relax, relax. It's okay." The woman held up her hands. "You've only been _here_ for about two days. But back on the Prime-"

"Oh. Relative time." She exhaled. "Cripes don't scare me like that."

"Sorry." The woman scooted a little closer, whispering conspiratorially. "Sweetheart, are you in some kind of trouble? You kept muttering about someone finding you."

"Uh. . ." Kat frowned. "S- Something like that. I guess. . . Kindda hazy. Um. I was trying to- artifact!" She grabbed her mouth with both hands, vaguely aware as the pillow fell away but still trying to shovel the word back in her mouth, to take it back and make it go away. _Dammit! Smooth move!_

"Oh. That thing." Without missing a beat the woman reached over to the stack of clothes on the dresser, pushing it up and grabbing the small metal dial. She held it out for Kat with a patient smile that didn't falter even when Kat scrambled to pull the pillow back over her chest. "That's an interesting piece of magic, sweety. Where'd you come across it?"

Kat took it and sighed. She could feel the image of Jezebel coursing behind her eyes promising her that she could free the woman. She could be whole and everything would be alright. Kathrine knew the cost but wasn't that worth it? She could see her family again and. . . Jezebel would be lost. Free from the wall, yes, but her soul wouldn't have any place to go. Kathrine sighed.

She couldn't let it fall into the hands of the Oghman's _or_ Bree, though. That's why she'd been running. The power of the amulet could show them the path to their deepest desires and even if it killed them, a carefully worded question might actually reveal a way to circumvent that and keep the 'gift' of the relic. One could effectively, literally, become a god. Wasn't that what Bree wanted?

"Sweety?"

"Huh?"

"I asked you where you found it."

"Oh. Uh. It's. . . Complicated."

The woman smiled knowingly and leaned over to touch Kat's forehead with her own. Kat started to pull away but the woman brought her arm around her shoulders and pulled her into a soft hug. "It's good to see you again, Kathrine." In the next moment she kissed her cheek and hugged her closer, rubbing her back.

Kathrine's heart thumped in her chest as she tried to figure out just who this woman was. There was something in her manner, something in the way she said things that suggested there'd been some kind of history but for the life of her nothing came to her mind. She was reaching for something that simply didn't exist. Despite this, however, her arms came around the woman's back and she returned the hug, if only to feel the closeness of another person. The warmth and security of someone that she felt she could trust. Wasn't that what it was about in the end?

Fingernails dug into her back a little causing furrows of white in her pale flesh. That reassuring subtle demand she asked of her lovers, the kind of thing that put them in control and her supplicant to their desires. Kat whimpered softly and pulled the woman tighter. She didn't need to know more than that. She didn't _want_ to. She was safe like this and she'd remain so for as long as she could.

"I still think about that night, you know." She purred a sultry growl, nuzzling her cheek. All too soon, however, the woman's fingers slipped back so her palms were resting on Kat's waist and she was looking her in the eye. "Do you have any plans?"

"I-" _No. No I don't want to. _She could avoid Eveningstar for a few days, couldn't she? "I have-" No. If the Oghmans or Bree found her, it'd be over. They'd have the relic. But the thought of visiting her family plot made her stomach lurch. She'd said her goodbyes, that's where it was supposed to end. She wasn't _supposed_ to come back. But she still had to bury the relic. _It has to be done._ "I have to get to Eveningstar. Um. . . Family thing, you know?"

"Sure, sweety." A small smile pulled at her lips and she leaned in to kiss Kat.

Kat pulled back. She knew how it'd end. She knew she wasn't that strong. Once it started. . . It'd always turn out the same way. She sighed. "I'm sorry. Just. . . Not right now, okay?"

"Of course." The woman brushed Kat's hair out of her eyes. "I mended your clothes as best I could but there really wasn't a lot to work with.

"Really?" She glanced over at the stack of clothes. "Um. . . Thanks."

"Sure."

"I. . . Uh. I don't have any way to pay for-" The woman put her finger to Kat's lips.

"Just say my name."

"Uh." Kathrine searched her eyes as her heart backed up into her throat. The second stretched off into eternity with neither of them giving up anything. Kat was lost and they both knew it but she had the good grace to say nothing, even as she leaned in and kissed her finger between them.

"Ah, well." There was no anger, or even disappointment, just a subtle tone of acceptance. "We had fun, didn't we?"

"Y-. . . Yeah. I'm sorry-"

"No harm, no foul. You should get dressed, though, if you're going to make it to Eveningstar before it gets dark. It's about an hour to first light on the Prime and the portal to the Mines isn't working."

"Huh? That always works."

"That's what I said. Some kind of accident changed the shape of the portal. Strange thing. Guess that's what happens when someone starts messing around with things they don't understand, isn't it?" She shrugged. "Anyway. I'll let you get dressed if you feel like it or go back to bed again, I still have the room for another couple of days before I move on again so you're welcome to make use of it."

"Uh. . . I- I'll get going. I've imposed enough."

"Oh, not at all! I want to see you healthy and safe, sweety. Cyrrollalee will help take care of you just as I would."

Kat furrowed her brow and rubbed at her forehead for a second before running her hand down her face. Abruptly it came to her. "Tammia!"

"Mmmhm!' The woman smiled.

"You-. . . Right. Well, uh. Thank you. Very much for everything. I need to get going, though."

"Of course, sweetheart. I'll be right out side if you need anything, okay?"

"Thanks."

Kat clutched the pillow to her chest, watching as the woman slipped out. Only when she was sure that the door wasn't going to open again she threw the covers back and did a quick visual inspection of her body. Sure enough, all her wounds had been magically healed and even with the lingering itch nothing felt out of place, all her muscles were a bit tight but she didn't look any worse for wear.

When she slid out of bed her knees buckled, forcing her to grab the dresser or fall over. Her knees and ankles throbbed but the longer she stood there, the more the throbbing subsided until eventually she could stand upright under her own power. She recovered her clothes and got dressed despite the subtle aches and pains pulling at her mind from her head to her toes. The stitch work that'd been done to her clothes made them too tight in all the wrong places and even hard to breathe. _Focus._ _Come on._ She had to focus on the things she was going to have to do.

The only reliable portal back to the Prime that was in the same region of Cormyr would take her to Arabel, a full day and then some away on foot. The walk would probably do her some good but was she really in any condition to go that far? She didn't have much choice, she had to. She'd also needed water and food. It wasn't anything she hadn't done a few times before. She'd be okay.

She found her brother's sword and her spellbook tucked up against the dresser and slipped them on to her thick belt along with a small set of leather pouches meant for holding spell components. Though she didn't remember ever owning a set. When she went to recover her coat, she learned why. The coat was in tatters, the expensive wool exterior and silk lining shredded so badly that no amount of stitch work could've possibly made it whole again. The finely embroidered front panels where still fairly in tact but the swaths of friction burned fabric in the back left a hole nearly the size of Kat's entire torso where the road had ground it up.

It'd taken her weeks to save up money for that coat and it probably cost more than her family's entire farm was worth but for some strange reason it didn't. It was a material possession, it _shouldn't_ have been important in the first place. So long as she had her health, anything else was extra flavor to a rich soup. But some part of her knew she was lying to herself. She'd bought the coat after Jezebel's execution and she'd made it distinctly hers over time. It wasn't something she could replace even if she bought a new one.

She sighed. _It's just stuff._ Kat slung the coat over her arm. Maybe she could find someone to fix it when she got to Arabel. She'd need to get some new pants anyway. "Mgh. . ." Kathrine took another deep breath and glanced around at the room, memorizing the simple layout. It was a sort of reflection of her life; empty and missing something but still functional. Still kind of comfortable if she was really careful. Or self-delusional. Bree had brought something into it but it wasn't anything she really needed. Danger.

_Oh, but she could dance. And sing. And kiss. . ._ Kat's stomach clenched. What the hells was she thinking? The woman was a danger to all the multiverse. A thief. An insurrectionist possibly. She had a number of vices that could easily out weigh Kat's and-

And she loved her.

Kat blinked.

No. She couldn't love anyone any more. That was stupid.

She was addicted to that danger. She was hopelessly ensnared by the woman's confidence, beauty and willingness to do anything at any time whether Kathrine really wanted to or not. She'd _taunted_ a dragon with no thought about it and walked away to tell the tale. But she never did. She was a classy woman, too. Not just some reckless adventurer with more bravado than brains, she was intelligent at a level probably surpassing Kat's own gifts. Kathrine's jaw felt a bit heavier as she pondered the logic of her own realization. Bree had been everything Kat secretly longed for yet couldn't quite bring herself to ask of her lovers or her friends. And she'd been it by virtue of being who she was. Not trying to be someone else.

Sure, she was probably insane and, given the chance, would use the relic Kat now possessed to take over the entire Human Pantheon of gods but. . . She was Bree.

And Kat was in love with her.

"Holy hells." The words ran from her lips in a timid whisper. "When the hells did that happen?"

Kat slumped against the dresser, staring at the opposite wall blankly. All the evidence pointed to that. Her palms were sweaty. Her heart hurt and she secretly wanted that comfort of those arms around her. She hugged her chest and sighed. "Why me. . . Come on, really?" Her gaze turned up to the ceiling as though it could provide some answers. "Sune save me, huh?" She wanted to laugh. Wanted it all to be a big joke. But it wouldn't come.

In the wake of her epiphany she barely heard the knock at the door. "You okay, sweety?" Tammia's voice sounded distant.

"Yeah." She pushed off the dresser and grabbed her coat. "I don't think I could be better." She felt like smiling.

And so she did.

Why not?

# # # #

Kat was standing at the doorway back to the Prime material watching as people walked by the portal's destination. The doorway served as a kind of window into a city that felt like it existed only yesterday, or perhaps decades ago. In light of everything she'd been through, and all the things she'd seen she could only wonder how much time had passed and how much older she _really_ was in relation to that passage of time.

Tammia's hand rested on Kat's shoulder. "You don't have to go if you don't want to, you know. You can come with me to Chult-"

"I have to do this. But. . . thank you."

"Sure, sweety." The woman brought her slender arm around her back and pulled her into a hug. Kat responded instantly. "Do you need any coin?"

"I-. . . I couldn't ask you for that. You've already done so much for me."

"I'll not have you leave without something to cover your expenses. I'm sure you'll find a way to make it up to me some day." She chuckled softly and patted Kat's back. "Infact! I know how you can do it!"

"Huh?"

"Help someone else in need. It doesn't matter who or why. Just do it and say a little prayer to Cyrrollalee, okay?" With those words the woman pushed a modest bag of coins into Kat's stomach, pulling back a little. "I won't take no for an answer, young lady, so don't even think about objecting."

Kathrine opened her mouth to do exactly that but Tammia gave her a look that said she'd better not. Instead she sighed and took the coin. "Thank you and. . . thank Cyrrollalee for teaching such generosity."

"I'm sure She'd be happy to share that with you sometime, if you wanted it."

"Um. . . Chauntea's more than generous, y'know? If I was on the receiving end of any more, I'd probably burst!"

"Oh dear, we can't have that!"

They laughed together for a short moment before trailing off into a silence neither of them was ready to fill again. They looked at one another. Both of them opened their mouths but stopped, ready to give way for the other. A small smirk lit Tammia's face. "Go ahead."

"No, n-. . ." Kat stopped herself. She needed to say it. "Tammia, I'm really sorry."

"Sorry? For what?"

"I. . . It's something I've learned. Um. . . Not something I _like_ but I know it now and I can fix it, and I can stop hurting people and myself and pret-. . . Bleh. Sorry. Um." Kat fidgeted with her belt as she bit her lower lip. "I'm really sorry about us sleeping together."

"Ouch." The woman's eyes flickered over Kat's face over the top of her glasses. "Can't say I was expecting that."

"Oh no! No, no, no! Um. I-" She sighed. "I just mean that. . . I've learned a lot and I've realized that I've been using people because _I _can't. . . I dunno. I can't let go when I need to." She swallowed as her cheeks burned. Her neck felt scratchy and the hair bristling but she clenched her belt to keep from grabbing at it. She needed to do this. "So I'm really sorry that I used you. It wasn't right, or fair or-"

Tammia put her finger to Kat's lips. "Sweetheart. It was one night. It was fun- very fun, infact- but you hardly used me any more than I did you."

"Yeah, but-"

"Shh. I appreciate the thought but we both knew there wasn't going to be anything more between us." The woman's smile was genuine and lingering as she leaned in and kissed her cheek. "You're too good a girl for that mind you were given. There're times where you just need to _relax_ and go with the course of things, it'd do you some good!"

"But-"

"Ah, ah, ah! Not a word. You keep stressing yourself like that and you'll have grey hair in a few years! Just _live_, Kathrine. That's the only thing the gods ask of us. The future'll take care of itself whether you're there to realize it or not. Let things happen and take them as they come." Her smile turned a bit more coy as she brought her arm around Kat's shoulder again and leaned into her. "Let life surprise and awe you. Then you've no need for the shackles of the past."

Kat sighed against her and hugged her back. Tightly. "You sound like someone I know."

"Wisdom tends to speak for itself, doesn't it?"

"Yeah, I guess so."

"Ata-girl." Tammia pulled back and looked at her for a moment. "Keep smiling, dear. You have a beautiful smile."

"Yeah?"

"Mmhmm."

Kathrine looked toward the portal again. Everything was going to turn out afterall. She'd bury the artifact, get her sextant fixed so she could get to chult, and new clothes. She needed new clothes. But then she could relax and spend her time doing Chauntea's will. As she was meant to.

Her journey was over, she'd done everything she could and in the end had probably kept the artifact from the hands of numerous dangerous people. Why _shouldn't_ she smile?

"See? Look at that."

Kat broke into a genuine grin. "Thanks, Tammia."

"No problem. That's what friends are for, huh?"

Kat sighed. Not a sigh of frustration or defeat but the sigh of release. The weight being pulled free from her chest that allowed her to breathe normally. It was time to go home. She was as complete as she had been before loosing Jezebel, she had friends and a direction. Just a couple stops and she could be doing what she was meant to. "Yeah. . . Yeah, that's right." She nodded. "I better get going."

Tammia didn't say anything right away but to smile and pat her back, drawing into herself as she took a step back. Just as Kathrine stepped through the portal she heard the woman speak. "Cyrrollalee bless, my friend."


	34. Volume 7: Lost and Found: Chapter 2

Chapter 2

A cool breeze swept over her as she stepped through the portal and appeared just outside an inn in one of Arabel's central districts. The air was tinged with the smells of sweat and rotting waste in the gutters, along with metal oil. The soft clanging of a distant bell and clamor of early morning traffic brought with it a kind of subtle resonance. It wasn't that 'home' feeling of the village but it was familiar, like the face of an old friend that wasn't exactly friendly any more.

She hated it.

The dirty cobbles. The slowly rotting plaster of the inn. Even the freshly mended cloth banner above the door that read 'WILD GOOSE'. It was all in a perpetual state of decay just like the city itself. Why had she come back here? There were a million other places on Toril and yet she chose the one place that could have torn her heart from her chest simply by virtue of its stagnating filth. She should've known better.

"Just get what you need and go." She murmured to herself. She needed to focus.

Kathrine was careful to avoid the most prominent feature of the distict; the Mage's Guild tower which dominated the skyline with an archaic looking building that seemed totally out of place. It'd been years since she'd had anything to do with them yet something in the back of her mind still said He might be there. Gregorious Fallow had been a novice of no small power but as typical of most wizards she knew, he wasn't content to simply wield what he had. He wanted more. They always did. It didn't matter who got in his way or how they did it. Just that they were removed as quickly as possible.

Kat shuddered as she slipped into one of the lower cost clothes shops. The money Tammia had given her was more than enough to re-supply herself with new clothes, a good used rucksack, some medical supplies and basic camping gear. By mid morning she had been as well prepared as she was before leaving the first time.

However, throughout her travels to the shops, a subtle feeling kept nagging at her like she was forgetting something or someone had been watching her yet when she turned back there'd been no one there. Now, standing inside of Doretta's, she could _feel_ someone watching her. Not through the large bay window but close at hand, almost within arm's reach. She turned around slowly, trying to appear interested in some of the lower cut dresses along the wall. Most of them were made of silk or other materials far too expensive for Kathrine but her original purpose had been trying to get her coat fixed; the elven seamstress was reputedly the best in Arabel.

Her eyes stopped at a particular dress along the left side wall. It was short. Too short. Barely a sleeve that would've stopped at someone's mid thigh and hardly enough fabric to do anything remotely resembling keeping the wearer warm. Oh, but it glittered. Even in the flickering light from the lamps, it sparkled a soft loam color and Kathrine found herself imagining what she might look like in it. She'd need a shirt. Maybe something tawny. And-

Where the hell would she wear something like that?

She scoffed to herself and looked around once more. Bree would want her to wear it, she'd almost but not quite demand she do. She would, of course, comply and though she'd hate herself for it, she knew the kinds of looks that Bree gave her. She genuinely _liked_ Kathrine's body and somehow that approval, that desire had subtly wormed its way into her own heart. She was fit and healthy, why shouldn't she be happy in her skin? Besides, Chauntea had given her the body she had so she could carry out Her work when the time came. If anything, it was Her gift to Kathrine and that, perhaps more than anything, made it all right. Didn't it?

Kat bit into her lower lip as she thought about it. It made sense, in some way, that she'd been born with slightly wider than normal hips for her body size and longer legs. After all, she loved to run. She hugged herself with a small sigh. Of course it was all right. The gods didn't make anything without a purpose behind it.

"Madame?" A soft voice said from behind.

"Hm? Oh, um. . ." Kat swallowed when she saw one of Doretta's apprentices approach. She was young but bright eyed and well dressed. Her smile was almost infectious. Almost. "How'd it come out?"

The girl's smile faded somewhat. "Madame Doretta says it's very heavily damaged and the panels are going to need replacing new cut and fitting but she can do it!" She nodded emphatically. "Madame Doretta asks for two hundred and twenty five gold for the-"

"What?" Kat croaked. "T-"

"I'm sorry, Madame, but you'll get new panels and fresh lining."

Kat drew in a deep breath and sighed it out. Perhaps it really _was_ time to let things go. "I'm afraid I can't afford that. . . Um. Has she started?"

"No, Madame. Should I tell her you can't p- er. She'll not need to do the work?"

"Please. And give her my sincerest apologies for taking up her time."

"Yes ma'am." The girl offered a waning smile and headed into the back room. She emerged a few moments later with Kat's coat drawn in chalk to indicate various stitch lines and other things Kat could only guess at. "Sorry it didn't work out."

"It's okay. Here. . ." She gave the girl a silver coin. "Dinner's on me, huh? Give your mistress my thanks, would you?"

"Oh! Thank you, miss. I will." Something in the girl's voice changed slightly, her careful demeanor changed to something much more fitting of a girl her age. "Have a good day!"

"You too. Thanks again." Kathrine folded up the ragged coat as she walked back outside, frowning to herself. It was one of a few things she still had to gather up but one of the least important. It shouldn't have bothered her so much but it did. How much had she already given up on this dive into madness? Of course, who did she really have to blame but herself? _Bleh._

She stepped into the eastern market, now in full swing and bristling with adventurers coming and going. The Kest stalls were just to the left side and even though they were primarily blacksmiths, she knew they knew people who'd probably be able to help her with her next problem. As she approached one of the dwarves looked up at her curiously. A half-orcan man next to the counter was counting out some coins for a battle axe and to the right a human woman was trading in some smaller weapons that looked like they'd been freshly used.

"Can I help you?"

"Yes, uh, I was looking for someone who does work on sensitive equipment." She reached into one of her belt pouches and pulled out the battered planar sextant. "See, I need to get this fixed."

The dwarf looked at it for a moment. "What _is_ it? Some kind'f egg timer?"

"Egg-. . . No. No, it's a planar sextant. A small model but-"

"Yer gonna want to find a mage, then. We don't do work like that here."

"No, I understand, but-"

"Next?"

"Hey, wait a minute! I just need a name!"

"A mage! Go to the Guild tower or something. Next!"

Kat frowned. "Come on, you must know someone."

"How much?" The half-orc said.

"Please, just one lead, I can pay you for your time."

"I said we don't do that kind of work, lass. You'll have to check with the magicers in the tower."

"How much?" The half-orc repeated.

"Huh?" Kat, only now paying attention to the man, looked up at him. "I'm sorry, what?"

"You're working, how much?" He looked her over slowly, his beady black eyes roamed her unabashedly before he asked yet again. "How much."

"What- working? Oh, you're looking to hire? Uh. . . I'm really not looking for work right now, but thanks." As she finished she packed the sextant back into its pouch with a sigh. "Maybe that woman over there, huh?"

He glanced over at her and shook his head. "Too skinny." His meaning dawned on Kat right before he looked to her. "How much? Twice."

"Uh. . . No, really, I- er. . . I'm not. I don't do stuff like that. No, no. I'm a wizard- a priest, first, but a wizard too and-"

Abruptly he raised his hand to take her shoulder. Kat was already flinching away when she heard it. The voice of an angel.

"I believe she said no." It was unmistakably confident, patient and friendly but with a subtle hint of danger under it all. Kathrine looked to see Bree holding the man's wrist firmly. He tried to jerk his hand free but she didn't even budge, as though she was made of granite. "I believe this is where you leave, good man." Even as she said the words she stepped between Kat and the half-orc, looking up at him.

There was a moment where he looked at her and started to bare his teeth but she never let him go. And in the next moment his face went slack, eyes wide with some hidden recognition and then, and only then, did she let him go. He back pedaled, half stumbled over his boots and turned to run. Before Kat could make sense of it, though, she felt Bree's warmth against her, a strong yet gentle arm wrapping around her shoulders and the soft purr of her voice. "So how much for an old friend?"

Kat whimpered as her will power dissolved into nothing.

She was done for.


	35. Volume 7: Lost and Found: Chapter 3

Author's Note:

My apologies for the delay(s) in uploading new content. I've been struggling with life issues and the like. Here's to hoping I'll have this done soon but PLEASE, if you enjoy the story, leave a review or a comment! I love feedback or compliments. *puts out the tip jar* just a friendly 'Hey, I like this' or 'Hey, this could be better.' That's all I really ask for.

Enjoy and take care!

# # # #

Chapter 3

"Why so tense?" Bree's melodic voice slid over Kat's ear setting off every internal alarm she had. She needed to get away. Now. Her tone was pleasant, even inviting, but Kat knew better. The subtlety of the approach was a mask to hide the danger she was in. Kat's heart backed up in her throat. "I can imagine what's going through your head. . ." The woman's soft lips grazed her cheek, all the while cooing out a soft sigh to tease her skin. "How? Why? What now?"

"Somethinglikethat-" Kat breathed.

"You look positively famished, miss Stoneriver. Can I buy you a meal?"

"Uh-" Kat dared a glance out of the corner of her eye. Bree's features were soft and inviting and strangely even her eyes seemed to be patient, devoid of any trace of anger. All that remained in those blue crystal depths was the first thing that had attracted her- and likely many others- it was an unwavering confidence of someone completely secure in their place in the world. "I-"

"Oh, come now. After all we've been through together, do you really think I'd let my friend go hungry when I can provide for her?" The woman chided softly. "Or perhaps your _other_ friend is waiting for you, hm?" Her hand slid a bit lower from Kat's shoulders to rest on her him, pulling her into a one armed hug. "I must say, she is rather cute-"

"Who?" Kat went to look back but Bree stopped her.

"A dainty little elf in black leathers behind the tree across the market. She's using an invisibility spell I'm guessing her sister cast on her. . . Silly thing, really. But she's watching _you_ like a hawk chasing a mouse! You are ever popular it seems." Without warning, Bree kissed her cheek. "Just the way I like it."

"S- sister. . . A twin, right?" Despite herself, Kat's shoulders relaxed slightly as she came to realize the fawning over her was something Bree was using to cover their conversation. _Why_ was another matter entirely, but it felt that, for the moment, they were on the same side.

"Mmhm. That's to say nothing of the others around here. . . You do keep such interesting company, my dear priestess."

"Uh- H- Who?"

"Ah, but why would I spoil the surprise?" Her hand rubbed gently against Kat's side as she pulled back a little to look at her. A small smile pulled at her perfectly pouted lips. One of knowing and challenge, one that told Kat she knew a lot more than she was letting on and wanted to see how she'd respond.

Kathrine stared at her for a moment, finding her voice behind a lump in her throat. "What do you want from me?"

Her smile turned decidedly more playful. "To live." She winked. "I'd get moving before they realize you're alone."

"Huh?"

"Open those beautiful eyes to the _truth_ around you. . ." Bree smiled a little and for just a split second Kat felt light headed. She blinked and looked back towards one of the manicured trees across the market. Sure enough, the brown haired elven woman who'd she'd known as Lit was peeking from around the edge. Kathrine feigned and interest in one of the birds chirping in the tree before she looked back forward.

Despite everything she'd seen of Bree's magic and her ability to manipulate people's perceptions of things, she was still caught by surprise when she saw she was actually standing several feet behind herself. Bree's arm was draped over her lower back and her chest pressed to Kat's shoulder as she whispered to her.

Kathrine glanced left and right but she couldn't see anyone else. In front of her, the dwarven smiths stole occasional glances to Bree _and_ the figure that looked like Kat as tough they expected one of them might steal something. To them what they were seeing was real even if it wasn't to either Kat or Bree.

"Ho-"

"Run."

"Huh?"

"This is where you make yourself scarce, dear priestess. . ." A subtle tint in Bree's normally calm voice spoke of irritation just about ready to crest the surface. For the briefest moment Bree glanced back out of the corner of her eye to fix Kathrine with a look that told her not to argue. "We'll have other chances to catch up."

Why was she doing this? She could have just as easily taken the relic and been off, yet she wasn't just telling Kat about the danger they were in, she was helping her escape from it. But _why_? From everything Kat knew, she was selfish yet there'd be no value in letting her get away with the medallion. Why didn't she just try to take it? Unless she didn't know. . .

Kat swallowed. "Where will you be?"

"Just look over your shoulder." She smirked and went back to whispering to the fake image of Kat.

Kathrine stood in silence for a moment, half closing her eyes as she quickly considered her options. Where she might go, how she'd get there and who was after her. It only took a split second to formulate a plan but how did one plan around and unknown threat like that? But standing still, paralyzed by inaction meant someone was going to get hurt. She had to make a decision and quickly. . .

She did.

She ran.

At some point during the last year or so a magical accident had warped the layout of Arabel. Where it had been laid out neatly and encompassed vast tracts of land at one point, now the city was pretty much shrunken by a third or more. Districts had been rearranged and more tightly packed than they were in the past and while it still occupied a great deal of space, it was still quite possible to reach one side of the city from the other in under an hour on foot. less than that if one was running. If she could get to the west gate, she might be able to cloak herself in invisibility and get on the road before dusk settled in and from there, Eveningstar by morning.

Her body screamed against the torture she was subjecting it to already. Her muscles ached and throbbed but she pushed harder, pumping her arms in a dead sprint. She breezed past something invisible- a tell tale brush of something against her senses warned her right before she heard someone shout for her to stop. It was a man's voice. Gravely and indistinct.

Kat whined as her pack slapped her lower back. Her brother's sword banged her knee adding to the blanket of aches and pains across the entirety of her body. She wasn't going to make it to the west gate. There was just no way.

"Stop, child!"

"No, no, no." She whined to no one in particular. She'd come too far to just give in now but why couldn't she just rest for a bit? _Shutup! Go!_ Kat pumped her arms harder as she fought with her body for more speed. Buildings passed in a blur, barely registering as her eyes began to water from pain. The small fountains of the central district came into view just as she felt the first blast of magic slam into her back.

It was a spell she was vaguely familiar with. A cold slap on the back that made her feel as though her muscles were melting under her skin like candle wax dripping off her bones. It enveloped her entire body for just a moment. She tripped. At the back of her mind she could feel it rolling over her, probing for weaknesses in her body. Trying to find other places to rend asunder. It was horribly cold and threatened to weaken her even more.

Another second and the feeling passed, replaced by a hollow ache across her muscles that made her feel slightly drained but no worse than anything else she'd been through in the last few days. "No!" She cried out in defiance.

"STOP!"

Kathrine mumbled through the incantation for invisibility as she tried to keep from slamming face first into the cobbles. However as quickly as the words formed and her hands moved, she could feel the spell being undone, the energy sapped away just as easily as it was gathered. She groaned out loud. _Are you kidding me?!_

It was at that moment she felt something slopped on to the ground directly in front of her and exploded in a splatter of white goop. It clung to her legs and hardened like granite. She pinwheeled her arms to try to keep from falling as a scream ripped itself from her throat. "No! No, no, no!" She pivoted to avoid falling on her face, barely managing before she slammed into the stone with a dull thump.

"Get her secured!" The gravely voice rose a couple of octaves in a commanding tone. In seconds she could feel hands grabbing her. Rope rubbed her wrists as she struggled and they tied her hands behind her back. She tried to kick away, tried to scream out for help but in the next moment she could feel the hands pulling her up. "I apologize for this, girl." The man with the gravely voice spoke in a reassuring tone. "It's not the way I preferred to speak to you but time is of the essence."

The hands were strong but they were restrained as though deliberately trying not to hurt her. "Lemmie go!" A smaller hand brushed over Kat's purse and another felt down her side. They were slender, smaller than a human's, searching over her belt pouches and her pockets. With such precision and speed, Kat barely had enough time to register what was going on. She flailed. "Lemmie-"

"We're trying to _protect_ you from the influence of the dragon, now if you-"

"Yoink!" A vaguely familiar woman's voice cut him off. Lit. It was Lit. Kat could feel the heavy medallion slide from under the seam of her pants. "Thanks for your help!"

"Hey!"

"Stop her!"

There was a child like giggle before the sets of hands holding her up began to let go. Kat tumbled down to her side, left to struggle against her bonds as four men in thick black and brown robes shimmered into view. Lit's own invisibility spell was beginning to wear away and she was turning around to run, the lithe elf's natural grace was evident even before she started to run. They all knew that once she was gone there'd be no finding her.

She flicked her wrist producing a vial full of clear colored liquid and pulled the stopper with her teeth. Just as she spit it out one of the men charged at her. She pivoted to the side, throwing his weight off before swinging her left hand around in a tight arc. Bright crimson sprayed across the cobbles as the man grabbed his throat and let out a wheezing gurgle of surprise. Lit frowned briefly just before she tipped the vial up to drink it.

"Pardon me-" Bree's voice proceeded a soft wind that ruffled Kat's hair across her face. In a flourish she seemed to step out of nothingness, her velvet coat trailing behind her. She and Lit locked eyes and in the next split second Bree casually plucked the medallion from her fingers, smiled politely and stepped past her. "Why thank you!" Bree's crystal blue eyes shifted towards the men and she flashed a smile and a wink. As soon as she passed Lit, however, she vanished back into nothingness leaving no trace that she'd been there in the first place.

"She's here!" The gravely voice'd man growled.

Lit blinked in confusion, looked at her empty hand and then looked around. "Cheater!"

"Get the elf!" One of the other men snarled.

"No, don't get the elf!" Lit downed her potion and vanished.

"Forget the elf, get the dragon! There isn't much time!"

_Dragon? What dragon?_ Kat wiggled against her bindings all the more as her mind tried to work out the situation. The alchemical goo on her ankles was beginning to thin out and become more pliable while the seconds melted one into the other. The men around her took small potions from their own belt pouch and began drinking them, scanning the early afternoon streets. It was just a moment's distraction but Kat took advantage.

Her knees ached as she rolled on to her side and tried to plant a foot under herself. No sooner did she start to get traction and _almost_ get her body positioned so she could start getting up than she felt someone leaning down against her, pressing his knee against her side. When he spoke, his gravely voice grated on every fiber of her being. "I don't want to hurt you girl. We're trying to help. . . Don't give me a reason to kill you."

"Like you were going to when you were chasing me in the ships, right?! Excuse me if I don't buy it! HELP!" Kat cried out. It was strange to see no one around, not even the city guards. What the hell had happened? Some kind of celebration? Or had she stumbled into some kind of alternative reality where Arabel wasn't in need of regular patrols? "HELP!"

"Silence!" The man didn't press on her or look at all ready to strike her but she still flinched away. "You've no idea what's at stake here, child. The forces at work here-"

"Could allow someone to ascend to godhood, yes! I know about the stupid relic! And no I don't have it!"

His weathered face turned to look at her with clear surprise. "How-"

"She knows too! Neither of you can handle it! It-"

"Destroys mens souls, yes." He sighed softly and laid a hand against her shoulder. "Relax, child, we're not going to hurt you. She needs to be stopped. Don't let her promises of power lure you in, she'll only use you for what she can get and when you're no longer of value, you'll be discarded. Do you understand?"

"She can't have it either!" Kat squirmed against the cobbles trying to find some escape. "Just let me go!"

"Help us find her, she'll come to you." He whispered. "Call her name-"

"No! That's suicide for both of us." Kat swallowed. "I've seen her magic. . . There's no way, if she wanted you dead, she'd kill us all."

"Call to her, child! Your very soul may be at stake here-"

"Pfft. I know what it is and-" She sighed. "Untie me, I'll help you find her. . . But you can't have the medallion, either-"

The man's deep set eyes focused on her for a long moment, utterly devoid of concern for her life and focused with that kind of intentness Kathrine had seen so many times in wizards. It was the pragmatic stare of someone who'd come to a conclusion of the value of a reagent or other inanimate object. He had plans for her. Plans she wasn't going to like at all.

Kat did the only thing she could do. She kicked at him and cried out. The only name that came to her mind, the only measure of possible safety. In an insane world, it was the only thing her mind could think to reach for. "BREE!"


	36. Volume 7: Lost and Found: Ch 4: End V7

Chapter 4

"_At any time, in any place and in any language. Call my name, and I will be there for you._" In the deepest depths of Kathrine's panicing mind, she heard Bree's voice whisper the reminder of what they'd shared. Kathrine questioned, she always did, but hope won out and the name clawed its way out of Kat's throat. She cried out both in fear and faith. "BREE! HELP!"

The words echoed through the otherwise empty street, dying off into silence as a soft wind brushed over her. There was no flash of light, no blinding ray of salvation on the horizon. There was only the stillness left in the wake of her plea. Nothing moved but the subtle scanning motions of the three men looking to the buildings that lined the main thoroughfare, all of them prepared to move on a moment's notice.

Kathrine herself looked around from her place on the ground, hope still firm in her mind. Bree was a friend, a lover and overall a _decent_ person who kept her word. . .

When it suited her.

That quiet reminder was all it really took to shatter her hope completely. Bree had what she wanted, she didn't need Kat any more than she had needed her to find out what the artifact did in the first place. She'd kept Kat around for her own reasons and now that she'd had her fun she was gone like so much dust in the wind.

_Okay, don't panic. Just keep calm._ She drew in a breath. It wasn't the first time she'd been betrayed, nor was it likely to be the last. She'd just have to adapt. That's what she did. Adapt. Why was it, then, that she felt an ache in her heart? She'd let Bree in too far, she'd given too much trust and now. . . Now she was on her own.

_Some things never change._

Kathrine glanced around, trying to piece together a plan. With no guards or even people on the streets, she was completely at the mercy of the unforgiving cobbles and her own creativity. She could get through it. All she had to do was-

"Pardon me." Bree's clear voice filtered from somewhere down the street ahead of them. The simple, frank tone in her voice was warm and yet totally indifferent to anything going on around her, as though she was talking about the weather. "I believe you're looking for me-"

"Now!" The man with the gravely voice snarled. "Get her!"

Kat squirmed and turned her head up just in time to see Bree, about fifty feet ahead of them, turn on her heel with her hands clasped behind her back. Her wine colored velvet coat fluttered softly in her wake when she turned but she didn't acknowledge the men as they started after her. One of them removed a small crystal banded in copper and aimed it at her while his compatriots spread out to come at her from different angles. There was just a split second where Kat tried to call out before the man atop her grabbed her mouth and muffled it into a dull 'mph!'

Bree, heedless to the danger she was in didn't so much as turn to regard her pursuers. Instead, she walked a little faster but never quite took to a run even as they closed in on her. The man with the crystal muttered some kind of incantation, aiming the device at Bree's back. He looked faintly surprised when nothing happened but in another moment he was conducting the incantation again as his companions closed the distance.

With the men only a few feet from her she halted in mid step and tumbled to the cobbles face first with a solid _thump_. The man with the gravely voice pressing into Kat's back muttered something indistinct, it sounded distinctly approving. Kat bit his hand only to scream out 'NO!' into his palm.

Bree lay crumpled as the men approached with small daggers at the ready, prepared to strike her down at a moment's notice if she moved. She had stopped cold almost like she'd been struck dead. She wasn't breathing. She wasn't stirring. Panic began to flood through Kat's veins like cold water. Why wasn't she breathing? She was too strong for someone to just _kill_ her like that.

"It's fine, child. We'll protect you. . ." The man whispered in what he probably thought was a soothing tone. It was cold and hard like the edge of the knife Kat could feel pressing to the base of her neck, threatening to silence her next words.

How could they have done that? It didn't make any sense. The woman Bree had been was snuffed out like a candle in the wind and she didn't have so much as a _chance_? It was the same thing they'd tried to do to her, to get the relic back. The Oghman church was reputedly zealous about guarding knowledge but could they just _do_ that to people? Didn't their god have some kind of 'don't kill people like this' mandate? Didn't _they_ have any compunction about sanctity of life? Kat's mind ran fluid with anger and fear. Confusion and pain.

She didn't deserve that. No crimes she may or may not have committed deserved such a death. She was confused, yes, but she wasn't an _animal_ to be hunted down and killed! Kathrine could feel a snarl growing in her throat as she tried to push against the cobbles with the tips of her toes. The men were only a foot away from the still form of her friend, of her lover. . . Of a _basically good_ person whom they'd just unceremoniously murdered in the streets. "Who are you people!? Who?! WHO GAVE YOU THE RIGHT!?" Her pathetic cries echoed through the empty street only to be strangled by her tight throat.

"Yes, do tell." Bree's voice cut through the fog of anger and pain like a sword. It kept right on cutting until it got to her heart where it stabbed a new hole to be filled with disbelief and a new kind of terror.

Kat craned her head around to see the man's features slackened with his own terror. Where his hand was touching Kat's shoulder, she could feel a sudden tension in his grip. But his eyes said it clearest. The surprise. The confusion. Things Kat had known first hand in a million different reflections. It felt _good_ to see it in the eyes of someone like that. She wanted to smile but she suddenly realized how petty she was being.

"And while you're at it. . ." Bree cooed with an eerie calm, her crystalline blue eyes sparking with both amusement and focus as she looked at him. She rested her chin on his shoulder as though it was the most normal thing in the world. "Be a dear and see to the girl's release, hm?"

The man swallowed and tensed again. His gaze shot to his left to glance at Bree. "You'll not corrupt this innocent soul-"

"You're one to speak of corruption." She tsked. "Trying to destroy my soul so you can pursue your dreams of immortality? Oh, no, mister Syler, I believe there's a special layer of the Hells reserved just for people like you." With the casual calm of someone still secure in their position in the world, she spared Kathrine a glance and a subtle 'everything will be fine' smile. "Now, if you'd be so kind? Or did you need a blade to cut her bindings?"

The man, Syler, swallowed against the lump in his throat when Bree removed a small dagger from her belt and turned it over to offer it to the man hilt first. The entire handle was bone with blood red inlays that sparkled softly in the afternoon light. As the polished silver weapon changed hands, Kat could see the inlays were actually small glass tubes filled with real liquid blood, yet something seemed slightly off about them.

It was a subtle bristling of arcane energy against the fringes of Kat's senses from the blood or the dagger itself but whatever it was, it was an immediate and undeniable _touch_ almost as if the magical energy contained within the object was a physical force pressing on her. It was power in it's most destructive form, coursing through the veins of the weapon. Waiting to break free. It was _hungry_ for something. Kat squirmed away feebly but Syler's grip tightened once more.

"I am known for my patience, mister Syler." Bree whispered. "You're testing it with this child."

The man muttered something in fluid but hard edged draconic. From what Kat knew of the language the words weren't friendly. She didn't even need to hear the intent to realize it was probably some kind of death threat.

Bree chuckled a melodic laugh right in his ear. It stopped, abruptly and her voice contained no humor whatsoever. "No."

When Kat felt the brush of the weapon slice through her bindings she rolled away from the pair just as the men ahead of them started trying to touch the still 'dead' Bree on the streets. Their hands passed right through her a couple of times before they stole glances at one another and finally back. One of the men pointed at them and shouted but Kat was already running through the incantation for her last invisibility spell.

Bree, however, seemed in no hurry. She watched Kat finish her spell before turning her attention to Syler, making no move to recover the magic blade as a little unreadable smirk pulled at her pouted lips. "Looks familiar, does it?"

He muttered again in draconic.

"Yes, but there is something you're forgetting, young man. . ." The woman pulled back and casually went about straightening out his ruffled black and brown robes. When she spoke again her voice carried a decidedly different kind of tone. One she'd never heard anyone speak in her entire life. It wasn't hard, unfriendly or threatening but something in the inflection sent every hair on Kat's body on end; it was a subtle power that no human could ever have wielded with such control. "We _never _forget."

The other Oghmans had halved the distance between them and the man with the crystal was aiming it directly at Bree. He opened his mouth _just_ as Bree took a half step back, her body seemingly disappeared right before all their eyes as though she'd walked through a curtain of reality and drawn it closed. Her head was still visible as she whispered. "We'll have our time, but not today." With that she stepped into the shadow of whatever reality she had parted with and was gone.

Kathrine stayed there, looking between the men or some kind of idea what they might be doing next. They looked mildly confused, uncertain and even a little frightened if Syler's face was anything to go by. He turned the dagger over in his hand and drew in a deep breath, considering the relic with the reverence Kat would have given to one of the shrines of Chauntea. To him it was a holy artifact or something of immense importance to whatever they were doing.

Why did Bree give it to them, then?

Syler looked around. "The girl is of no consequence. . ." He rose shakily. "Get Turnik and the others together, start the preparations."

"Of course." One of the men replied. "Do you really think she'd risk the binding spells for the girl?"

The older man looked at the dagger again, brow furrowed. "She's run out of time, it's desperation. . . Or. . ." They looked at one another and a sudden realization seemed to dawn on both of them. They didn't look entirely ready to share except when one of the other men looked at them strangely. Syler shook his head and sighed. "She's going to use the girl to undo the binding.'

"Wouldn't that destroy her soul anyway?"

"I. . . don't know." Syler slid the dagger in his belt. "You, tell the city watch what happened. We'll be leaving within the hour."

"Still want me to tell them we're with the Oghman Church?"

He nodded. "I'll meet you at the docks, I think I saw her cat pet roaming around invisibly. They might have their ship there too." The other men lowered their heads in understanding and he motioned them away. When he was standing there alone, with no one else around to hear him, he sighed. He looked haggard and worn in ways Kat, at her worst, couldn't have.

Some part of her felt bad for him but she couldn't bring the other parts, the parts worried for her friend, to care. It wasn't adding up, there just wasnt' enough information, but there was _some_ kind of connection she wasn't quite making.

"I know you're there." He said abruptly.

Kathrine swallowed.

Syler looked around slowly, scanning the shadows of the buildings and even some of the second stories for something only he knew. When his gaze swept past Kat she let herself relax a bit. He hadn't known she was there at all. Maybe she wasn't his target at all. "She'll destroy you, child. . . She won't think twice about it."

_That's where you're wrong._ Kat whispered to herself. Strange how distant those words sounded even to her own soul. Not knowing what else to do, she looked to the west and swallowed. Decisions had to be made and if necessary, sacrifices too.

She still had to get that relic before Bree could take off with it or use it. She also had to warn her- to protect her friend. . . "_At any time, in any place and in any language. Call my name, and I will be there for you." _It was in her nature, it was in her family, it was in her very blood; to stand by those in hopeless situations and lost causes, to be there for people such as Bree or Jezebel. They were friends and lovers and utterly up to their necks in trouble yet she wasn't going to back down now.

Kat started towards the docks at a sprint.

_3/16-17/1381_

_People always ask me why I do what I do. What does it mean to anyone? Why this, why that. . . You know what? If you don't know, I don't think I can explain it._

_Well, no, that's not entirely accurate._

_See, when my father was in the army he got into a fight with one of his best friends at the time. Over something that got a mutual friend of theirs killed (he never would tell me the specifics) and when it came to it, his friend disowned him, turned his friends on my father and even went so far as to threaten his life once. _

_Years passed and my father gave the man his distance until he saw him one day in the market, crying into his hands with a bunch of empty bottles around him and a blood stain on the stomach of his tunic. He'd been living on the streets for months after his wife passed away and he lost his job, he'd been begging for coin when someone stabbed him and took what little he had left._

_My father carried the man to the inn, dressed his wounds, watched over him while he slept and paid for a meal. After that, he brought him out to Eveningstar and got him a job on Miss Copperbottom's farm. When my father was asked why he did it, he said "A Stoneriver is a friend without condition."_

_So, when you ask me why I do what I do?_

_I can't say I'm as strong as my father, but I _am_ a Stoneriver. Maybe that says it all, huh?_

-Diary of Kathrine Stoneriver


	37. Volume 8: Time of Need Chapter 1

Chapter 1

_3/18/1381_

_The temptation of power, I feel, is one of the most obvious reflections of a poor spirit. Those who are drawn to the seduction of power beyond that which they can responsibly control or fall prey to the trap of 'just one more formula' without really stopping to ask themselves if they _should_ take that next step. Some do it out of otherwise benign intentions, some for control over their world and still others for the simple sake of it._

_But the problem with power, arcane or otherwise, is that eventually you start to forget where things come from and the simple beauties of life. When you're no longer impressed or even care about a warm Spring day or you don't stop to listen to the song of birds, I think something has been truly lost. It's a little thing, like innocence, that gets lost along the road when we're too busy 'living'._

_I'd like to hold out hope that deep down inside, we're all just waiting for that little something to surprise us and make us smile. I know that I've found one and I pray, maybe in time, I'll find the other too._

_Until then, I take shelter in the shadow of my family, praying for the snow to stop and Spring to begin._

-Diary of Kathrine Stoneriver

The soft soles of her boots slapped the cobbles in time to the pounding of her heart in her ears. She'd never make it before the Oghmans did at this rate. The docks were in the rear most quarter of the western district and from what little she knew about the remade geography of the city, she knew it wasn't exactly the most pleasant place to visit without some sort of escort. Preferably a big one that would deter any unwanted attention from the sailors.

It'd occurred to her, only briefly, that Syler had mentioned the docks as a way to throw Kat off the trail but then if he'd wanted to do that, he could just as easily have told his subordinates to go to the planar bar to find Bree. Perhaps it was a ruse, perhaps it wasn't. At the moment it was the only lead she had on finding the woman or her ship.

Bree still held the artifact and now the Oghmans knew she was in the city, which begged the question; why? Why was she looking for Kat? Just to get the medallion back? It would've made sense but she had come back for Kat after she had it. Not exactly the actions of a sociopath. There was something more to this than she was letting on to anyone, especially Kathrine.

Even so, she was a friend. A friend in danger and one that'd stepped into the very maw of that danger to protect Kat when she just as easily could've walked away. Kat had been wrong to doubt her, even for a second. Even if the niggling doubt in the back of her mind quietly chimed a warning that things weren't as they appeared, she could still be the friend Bree had rightfully earned by her actions. She could warn them and try to help them escape if they hadn't already.

And then, who knew? Bree didn't particularly have an interest in using the artifact but she _did_ have an interest in keeping it out of the hands of anyone else. Especially the Oghmans. Which brought Kat to another question; what _exactly_ had happened that they'd tried to obtain immortality at the cost of Bree's soul? How was that even possible? _Why_ would they use a human's soul anyway? From what little Kathrine understood of necromancy, humanoid souls, while robust in spirit and heart, were anything but powerful in magical terms. It'd take someone of immense power to even register as anything more than a minor power in terms of the Weave; humans just weren't _meant_ to be able to be used like that.

_But then she isn't human, is she? _Kat almost tripped over her feet when she felt her invisibility spell shimmer and fade away, releasing her into the material world as more than a passive observer. She recovered herself quickly and continued her sprint through one of the smaller markets of the district. Contrary to the Central district, the west was utterly alive with the daily activity of traveling merchants, shoppers and a few roaming guards here and there on the look out for thieves. More than a few curious glances passed over Kat only to look another way when they'd decided she wasnt' a threat or a criminal.

Amidst the small crowd, just beyond the market, a blonde woman was carrying a small basket towards one of the buildings. She was dressed in red silk with her head held high and her short, close cropped hair was cut in just such a way that it reflected the light perfectly to catch Kat's attention. Her heart stopped cold as she stared, willing her feet to move but unable to actually get traction.

"J- Jez?" She whispered. Knowing full well she was deluding herself. Jez couldn't be alive- "Jez!" Kat cried out involuntarily and started towards the woman at a bounding gait. "H- hey!"

"You there!" A man called out from behind a stall, holding up a clay jar. "You look like you could use some water! And why not in the finest amphora in all of Arabel!" Kat shook her head and turned back to Jez.

There was nothing there. The group had dispersed and she stood there in front of an empty space where a stall could have gone. Her heart throbbed in her chest and it was hard to breathe but she reached out to the empty air as if she could make the illusion real. Just one touch. . . One breath. That's all she needed.

_Please._

But for all her wishing, there was nothing there and there never had been. Her mind was playing tricks on her once more and she'd fallen for it in that way she always did. Tears licked her eyes, ready to spill forth but she pulled back, clenching her hands together into tight fists. She needed to be stronger than this. She was a _Stoneriver_. She needed to let go. Jez wasn't coming back.

Kathrine swallowed a gulp of air for the first time in what felt like eternity and stole a look around, finding her bearings. She needed to focus on those she _could_ help. She blinked away her tears and turned on the ball of her foot, starting off at another dead sprint. Her body ached in a number of ways and places but through everything, the whispers tickling the back of her mind told her she was doing the right thing. They approved of her actions because they knew what was at stake.

It was perhaps that resolution that kept her going all the way to the docks without slowing down; the finality of it all, with no room for doubt or uncertainty, she was doing what needed to be done. She pounded through the cobbles until she got to the docks themselves, pointedly ignoring some of the glances she got from those loading or unloading ships.

The docks themselves were laid out with simple piers shooting off a main runner. At the edges, some of the cranes were being used to load heavier loads on to some of the bigger ships but one of them was suspiciously lowered and the pier it was set up on was empty. Could it really have been that easy? Kat walked down the dock to the edge of the pier and glanced around, whispering. "Hey, guys?"

It was a strange thing for a once land locked city but the magically made river that lead out to sea had bolstered trade and thus most people didn't pay much attention to it outside of the obvious geographical difference. Even so, the muted sound of waves lapping at the pylons holding the dock up tickled her senses with possibilities. Yet the only reply to her whisper was the distant call of seagulls.

"Bree?" Kat tried again. "Nyx?"

"You're a glutton for punishment, aren't you?" A low rumbling voice whispered nearby. Nyx's voice was casual and calm but carried a slight edge to it suggesting she may have done something wrong.

"I can't help it. . . It's in my nature, y'know? Uh. . . where are you?"

"What should concern you more is where you go from here." There was a small hesitation in his voice. Uncertainty. "Time is short."

"I heard. The Oghman- uh. . . Syler. He's coming-"

"Syler." Nyx hissed. "We're leaving. If you're coming, be warned you may not see this place again."

Kat didn't hesitate in the least. There was nothing left for her here anyway. "Let's get going." Before Kat could take a step forward she felt a pair of strong but feminine arms wrap around her stomach followed of a soft coo against the crest of her ear. No sooner did the touch register, than she could _see_ Nyx sitting several feet in front of her looking at her with his tail swishing back and forth and his massive wings folded behind his back. He looked upset at something but not necessarily her.

"You're sure about this?" Bree's cool breath slid over her ear like silk.

"Y- yeah." Kat went to turn and the woman drew back slightly. "But I think we need to talk. . ."

"Of course, dear. . . Of course."

Nyx growled softly.

# # # #

They'd just gotten to the deck of the ship by way of the rope when Bree began singing without warning. It was a casual, beautiful tune that carried with it tones of hope and merriment that ran totally at odds with the situation at hand. To her it was just a momentary pause in what was surely some grand plan of her own design. Some part of that grated on Kat's already frayed nerves, even if it was meant to be soothing, it further reminded her that this woman couldn't take anything seriously if she tried, much less if she wanted to.

Before she could really get upset with the woman, though, Kat found herself humming along with the song. Even finding little niches she could fill in to create a melody unique to the both of them, meant _for_ the both of them. It was a really silly thing considering the circumstances but it still made Kat smile for some reason.

"That's more like it." Bree stopped abruptly, looking at her with a smile all her own. They were a few feet from the dock with her massive ship hovering just above the water and- so far as Kat could tell- completely invisible to any onlookers. The formulae required to make something so massive vanish swirled about the back of Kat's mind making it ache with the very concept of such a thing, not to mention actually making it visible to them. "You smile far too little, priestess." She chided playfully.

"I. . . Guess I don't have much reason to these days, huh?"

"Perish the thought! I've seen many a smile grace those lips when every contradiction should have torn it free." She tsked. "You've no reason to delude yourself, least of all with me. Now, then!" The woman's own lips pulled into a small smile. "What is on that _endlessly_ fascinating mind of yours, my good woman?"

_Yours. _Kat exhaled. Maybe she did belong to this woman but. . . No. She wasn't ready to give up that much control to someone holding back so much from her. Not just yet. She licked her lips, curled her toes in her boots and forced the words out from somewhere deep inside. "I want to know what he meant. . . What you _really_ are, and why that artifact is _really_ so important."

Nyx plodded over to where Bree was standing and sat down beside her, looking at Kathrine with a thoughtful, appraising expression. When he didn't speak, Bree glanced down at him for just a moment and settled her gaze on Kat. Her pale eyes could have hid a million different things and realistically Kat never would have known which were truths and which weren't. She was completely at the mercy of someone who had nothing to gain by telling her the truth. When the woman opened her mouth to speak Kat held up her hand.

"I. . . want to help you. You don't have to lie to me."

In a split second her eyes flashed with understanding and warmth before fading back into a cool, calculating glint. Her smile seemed genuine enough. "Good woman, I am many things. . . Seldom a liar. Doubly so when standing in the presence of an angel such as yourself. No, dear, I would never lie to you."

Nyx glanced up at her with clear disbelief. Bree didn't acknowledge it as she reached into her coat pocket and pulled out the now familiar silver medallion depicting a rolled up scroll on its face. Her gaze flicked briefly to the right and she smiled softly. Without any warning she tossed it up in the air and opened her hands to catch it.

"Yyyyyyoink!" A lithe elven woman in black leathers exploded into action from apparent nothingness, mere inches from Bree's side she had her hands out to grab for the amulet and her hands were just about to touch it. Kat opened her mouth to warn everyone but Bree was already on top of things; her left hand darted out and grabbed the collar of Lit's vest. The elf gasped in surprise as Bree held her several inches off the ground, catching the amulet without even looking at it.

They locked gazes, Bree's amused, confident smile didn't falter in the least as she continued to hold the elf off the ground without so much as breaking a sweat. She may as well have been made of stone.

"Uh. . . Hi?"

"Hello!" Bree turned the amulet over in her hand with a slight grin. "I take it you're a collector?"

"Um. . . Yep! _Litanya_'s the name. Pleasure to meet you." The elven woman's gaze drifted back to the object. "And may I say, you have wonderful taste in velvet, red really suits you."

"Charmed, truly." Bree's grin turned into a warm smile. "I've always found red to be the color of passion-"

Without warning and moving much too fast for Kat to even see, Lit's arm swept out in a quick arc across Bree's throat. Kat's heart stopped as an image of the Oghman Lit had killed in Central flashed through her mind's eye. Instead of a spray of bright blood, though, the wound sealed itself shut quickly and no blood spilled from the woman's flesh. Kat's eyes widened in surprise but Lit's did so in terror.

"Uh-"

"Mmmhmm." Bree tilted her head ever so slightly as if asking her what her next move would be.

Lit reached up with her shaking hands and gently, reverently, straightened out the collar of Bree's blouse where it'd been disturbed. "Is that silk?" She chuckled nervously. "My apologies! I. . . I had no idea!"

"Forgiven!" Bree smiled. Lit's shoulders relaxed a tiny bit. "Now, get off my ship." In a smooth move the woman pivoted and _threw_ the slender elf over the rail as easily as if she'd thrown a doll.

"I regret nothinnnggg~~" _Splash._

Nyx looked up at her with a faintly amused expression even as she glanced over her shoulder briefly. When Bree spoke again her voice was the same casually confident tone she always used. "That goes for you too, miss. I don't recall inviting such lovely company when I'm already blessed with some!"

_Anya_ stepped out of an invisible shadow, the shimmering of her fading invisibility spell leaving her perfectly exposed to the three on the deck. Bree could have easily torn her apart if she wanted to, yet the woman simply smiled at the elf.

"You're not going to. . . throw me off, are you?"

"Of course not, dear. The rope is right over there."

"Thank you. . ."

"Give your sister my best, hm?" She wiggled her fingers playfully. Without missing a beat she looked back to Kat and smiled. "Now, as I was saying. . ."

Kat shook her head in disbelief, trying to stifle the laugh already trying to grow on her lips. "Uh huh?"

"What did he really mean? I'm afraid I don't quite follow-"

"She deserves to know." Nyx said quietly.

Bree sighed theatrically. "Surely I'm not the only one seeing the irony of a sphinx wishing to divulge mysteries, am I? Very well. . . I was ah. . . born Brathtarixvhoo." She watched Kat for a moment, letting it sink in. When Kat didn't speak she smiled slightly. "And this fine gentleman, Nyx, has been a very. . . Close friend for most of my life. You see, the men of Syler's order took my mother when I was still a young one. They've been trying to find ways to turn the abilities of extra-planar races into-"

"Souls, you mean." Kat murmurered unconsciously. "They're using the souls of people to make themselves immortal."

"Quite so!" Bree's features lit up just a little. "I knew you were swifter than everyone told me." She winked playfully. "They've had some successes, you see. My mother was among them.'

"So-. . . Wait. . . that means you're a. . ." Kat furrowed her brow. "You're a _dragon_?"

"Oh, I wouldn't go that far. Remember when I told you I was probably more human than you are? You see, humans are usually mixed with some form of extraplanar creatures. Like yourself! I can tell a trace of an Aasimar's blood line miles away." She smiled at Kat's blush. "Yes, you might call it a hobby of mine. Forthwith; someone up your family tree found themselves a lover of celestial origin and through successive generations-"

"I'm _not_ an Aasimar, Bree. And I don't see what this has to do with-"

The woman tsked softly. "It's painfully bad form to interrupt someone, my good woman. Now! As I was saying, humans can generally trace some lineage to extra-planar mixing. . . _I_ however, am rather on the short end of the stick! You see, this. . ." She held out her hand and wiggled her fingers individually. "Is not natural to me. It's _as pure_ as one could possibly construct, yet as unnatural as the ship we're on."

"S- So. . . Wait, so they. . . took your _soul_ out of your body and put it in that one? Excuse me if I find that a bit hard to believe."

"In a manner of speaking? Yes. . . To put it into terms you might understand better, they _forced_ me to transform into this. Pleasant though the form may be at times." She smiled a lingering grin. "This is not more than a prison of flesh. Most unbecoming, if I do say so myself."

Kat swallowed. "If- If that's true, then you're taking this rather well."

"Dear, I've had a long time to get used to it. Make no mistake, I'm _not_ pleased." Bree casually straightened out her coat and slipped her hands behind her back, her gaze resting on Kat with a kind of otherworldly curiosity. "I am not above admitting I have my faults, but life has taught me the value of patience." She smiled slightly. "As to the artifact? Allow me this minor indulgence? What do you _honestly_ think they would do with it if they had unfettered access?"

"I. . . If you'd asked me that a few hours ago, I'd have thought they'd want to protect the knowledge that could be gained. They _are_ Oghmans, afterall. . . But that's not entirely accurate either, is it?"

Bree smiled a little. "You're on a roll. Keep going."

"So, I think they'd want to use it to get the immortality they're looking for. . . Um. . . I guess?"

Nyx's tail swished casually to the side, curling around Bree's foot protectively. It was just a little thing but it got Bree's attention and her smile warmed a little.

"Their experiments require the souls of extra-"

"Dragons." Kat supplied. "Right?"

"In a manner of speaking, yes. But the device they have to consume our energy is only fit for a human. . . Hence this." She motioned down her body. She opened her mouth to speak again but stopped just shy of it. For a moment, Kat considered whether or not she was being lied to but dismissed it. Bree _was_ withholding something but maybe it was to gauge how Kat would react before she divulged more.

"Wow. . . Uh. . ." Kat felt the hair on the back of her neck bristle. "How'd you escape?"

"I was blessed with very good friends." She slid her hand down to Nyx's side and ran her fingers through his mane. "As was my mother." At those words Nyx winced ever so slightly. "And now, I count you among them." She looked to Kat again with a patient smile. "I hope to, anyway?"

"O- Of course." Her mouth felt dry as she tried to comprehend the full depth of what she'd just heard. She was a friend, a lover. . . And something much more. Even if Bree would never really be able to feel the same way Kat did, it didn't change the fact that she felt something for this woman. Nor did it change the atrocities that'd been committed against her family and even others of her kind. She looked to Bree, searching her face for the right words. "S- so that black dragon? He was involved in this cult's activity too?"

"That he was. . . I saved his life. Nearly at the cost of my own, might I add."

"But-" Kat stopped herself. The argument hung on her lower lip like a fish hook. _Chromatics are evil_. Why would she help him? Were they lovers or was she like Kat in a lot of ways she didn't fully realize? She sucked in a deep breath and looked to Bree. "What kind of dragon are you?"

"The kind that likes spending time with good friends and has a _particular_ dislike of violence." She shrugged and smiled. "Against anyone, my good priestess. Even _those_ kinds of creatures."

"So you're. . . You're a. . . um. . . Metallic?"

The woman tilted her head slightly. "Ah! No, not hardly. . . You might say I'm somewhere in between. Anyway! Now that that's out of the way, shall we discuss the future, dear, or have you had enough?"

Kathrine stood there looking at her for a long moment, uncertain of how exactly to reply. She glanced back to the rope and then Bree. "I've come this far, I'm not leaving my friends now." And just like that, the weight of responsibility, of doubts and concerns, eased off her shoulders. It was _right._

"Glutton for punishment." Nyx smirked a decidedly feline grin.

Kat smiled weakly in return to the two. The die had been cast, for better or worse.


	38. Volume 8: Time of Need Chapter 2

Chapter 2

There was no fanfare surrounding their departure from the Prime Material, no one paid any attention to their ship as it silently lifted up into the sky far above the early afternoon din of dock workers loading cargo or carrying on meaningless conversations. Their concern for the more mundane aspects of life sent a twinge of guilt through Kathrine's mind; they had the blessing of ignorance, yet the very real dangers that swirled around them waited just at the veil between planes. It was maddening to consider even for a moment, yet Kat watched the steadily shrinking image with a certain jealousy. She _wanted_ to be ignorant again, but only just so.

"It's not too late to turn back." Bree whispered beside her.

Kat leaned against the woman's shoulder, saying nothing. There wasn't any more need for her to be here than there ever had been. The city ate away at people, bringing nothing but pain on an ever downward slide which no man or group could seem to stem the tide of even if they weren't so busy pursuing their own agenda. It was a fool's bet to think otherwise. But the warmth on the ship, the companionship of new friends and the solidarity of experience. . . The simple beauty of _knowing_ was all she needed to be happy.

Bree brought her arm around Kat's shoulder in a reassuring gesture as the ship banked upward into a lazy arc. The invisibility spell she'd set up on the ship was only now beginning to fade as they got closer to their destination somewhere across the river to the west of the city. She watched the people go about their lives for just a moment before stealing a glance at Kat, an unreadable expression on her features.

Kat looked over to her and smiled a little. Every part of the moment felt _right_ in ways she couldn't quite comprehend, words were unnecessary but the subtle itch of curiosity in the back of her mind was trying to piece together how everything had come about, why, and more importantly what they were going to do about it. If she knew the whole truth, Syler's people were pursuing Bree and gods knew how many others, trying to gather up their souls to make themselves immortal. But how did they stop _that_? If the cult could take on dragons and win even a few times, that meant they had powerful magic and tactics behind their efforts.

Bree's hand squeezed Kat's shoulder. "You're overthinking things again, aren't you?"

"Kindda."

The woman's perfectly pouted lips turned upward slightly. "You're going to go grey at this rate. Haven't you ever heard that the future takes care of itself and the past is the past? It's called the present because it's a gift."

Kat watched the trees far below for a moment, considering her reply carefully. "I think you do too, though. Even if you're not consciously aware of it."

She chuckled. "And what makes you think that, hm? I have a very keen memory but I find thinking _too_ far ahead gets dreadfully boring. It's enough to drive a person mad!"

"Yeah, but you're not exactly a normal person."

"Touche." She grinned again.

The ship continued its brisk pace over the thick forest far below, even taking on a subtle shift to the right. Kat watched and imagined any number of orcs or other forms of wildlife looking up to the sky and seeing the ship; what must they have thought about the strange intruder into their life? How _did_ something so alien get reconciled into normality? Was it even possible? She glanced at Bree wondering the same thing.

"You're doing it again-"

"Why did you stock all those reagents for the ritual?" Kat blurted.

Without missing a beat, the woman's hand squeezed gently. "Life is full of mysteries, my good priestess. The answers to some needn't become apparent until they're needed." Her smile faded slightly when Kat frowned. "You might say I was saving them for a time of great need."

"But. . . who was going to perform the ritual if not you?"

"Were I less secure in myself, I'd be offended at that implication. Do you truly think I'd ask someone else to do something like that?"

Kat swallowed. "W-. . . No offense, but you _are_ a dragon, right?"

Bree's hand pulled away from her shoulder as the warmth began to slowly drain from her sharp eyes. When she placed both hands on the rail and looked down into the copses of trees below, her voice took on a perfectly annoyed tone. "That's a dangerous attitude to have, miss Stoneriver. Do you think I-"

"Hey, hey, hey." Kat reached out to touch her but she pulled away ever so slightly, her eyes flashing with a warning that cut through Kat like a knife. "Hey, no, I didn't mean it like _that_. . . Just that, in my experience, dragons tend to think on a much loner scale than humans can." She swallowed. "No, like, I mean. . ."

Abruptly Bree smiled and her annoyance was gone in the beat of an instant. "You're far too cynical for your age, priestess." She poked the air with a slightly playful smile. "Given a mind like that, I'm surprised you're not running a fiefdom!"

"Pfft. What would I even call it, Katopia?" Kat forced a smile to which Bree responded with one of her own. "Hey, I'm sorry, I didn't. . . I didn't mean it to sound that way.'

"Dear. You're reading too far into this, really. Since when were we walking on egg shells around one another, hm?"

That question stung a little but it felt like one that needed to be answered. She was right, of course, somehow Bree had become someone different in her eyes. The woman she'd considered a friend was suddenly else, someone so far out of her realm of understanding that she was terrifying in ways no simple fear could quantify. Kat sucked in a deep breath. "I'm sorry, Bree. . . I. . ."

"Well, if it helps any, I'm _not _one of Tiamats daughters." She rolled her eyes with a playful smirk.

And just like that, Kat's resolve wavered all the more. She sighed and closed her eyes, stepping up to the woman- her friend, in any form- and hugged her close. Barely able to whisper, she murmured into Bree's coat. "I'm sorry. It's just a lot to take in." To her surprise, Bree brought her arms around her back and cooed softly in her ear.

"I've told you one, I've told you again; life is full of mysteries and you, my good woman, are not meant to know them all. . . But, take heart!" She smiled at Kat. "One thing I will never let be a mystery between us is that I l-"

Something heavy slammed into the hull with a dull _thump_.

"Nnnggghhh. _Really_?" Kat whined even as both she and Bree pulled away from one another. What she was going to say, what Kat wanted to hear, those things would have to wait. If only for a few minutes. It hadn't sounded that bad, probably just a bird or something.

"Oh. . . Well, that's something you don't see every day."

"Huh?" Kat turned to see Bree looking up at the sky to their immediate rear where a massive black dragon sat atop the deck of a ship easily twice the size of Bree's own. It hovered in the air at a perpendicular angle several hundred feet up above them yet still keeping pace with their forward movement. The entire hull of the dark wood ship was clad in layers of metal plating that had been bolted on in a haphazard array, exposing pieces of the inner hull and making the entire vessel look like an armored skeleton . A very heavily armored skeleton. "Oh. . . That's not good."

The ship rolled slightly towards them to get a better angle and that's when it exposed it's deck; hundreds of men and women in black and brown robes stood between dozens of catapults which, in turn, were ringed with mages working a dozen different incantations at once on the iron balls sitting in the bowls of the siege engines. The balls themselves began a steady blue glow before sparking to life with an icy colored fire. At the same time, the dragon took to the air and pivoted away from the ship.

Kat opened her mouth but no words came out. Her breath died right there on her lips only to be robbed by the passing wind.

The dragon flew side around the Oghman's vessel, flapping his wings just once before banking to intercept Bree's ship. No sooner had he flexed his massive claws and focused his one good eye on Bree than a dozen smaller black dragons swooped out from the opposite side of the long ship taking a flight path around the other side. A moment later the catapults fired their first salvo.

As the flaming blue balls of iron sailed through the sky Bree casually straightened out her coat and sighed. "Can't win them all, I guess."


	39. Volume 8: Time of Need Chapter 3

Chapter 3

A thousand miles away and in a different life, Kathrine would have been reading about the very situation she was faced with. It would've been in some trashy adventure novel that summarized everything neatly; the mysterious cultists had their flag ship flying vessel armed to the teeth and armored so heavily that not even a Cormyrian ballista could've punched through its decks, the one eyed black dragon was flying at one flank and its offspring at the other flank. . . And the protagonist would, of course, be completely out of spells, having had no time to prepare them before a battle she didn't expect.

Some darker part of her wanted to laugh at the absurdity of it; who wrote that kind of crap, really?

Kat's heart had stopped beating at some point between the realization of what they were facing and the second, more serious realization that Bree truly had no plan. The woman stood not five feet away with her hands calmly resting behind her lower back. She didn't call out orders, she didn't offer Kat any kind of reassurance, she simply stood there as though resigned to her fate. Why wasn't she doing something?! Where was the woman who had an answer for everything?

As the shard of time continued to lance through the present into the future, the black dragon banked at a slightly wider angle to intercept Bree's battered ship. His single dark eye gleamed cruelly in the early afternoon light, shadowed by the thick horn that protruded from the side of his head. His jaw opened in a feral mockery of a smile when his wings beat down, propelling him ever closer to Bree. Now only a couple dozen feet away, his mouth began to open.

From above, the heavy iron balls that burned bright blue magical fire continued to sail towards them at an amazing rate. Comets in an otherwise clear sky, their intense heat radiated even as they zipped through the air over the rear cabin and carved trenches of smoldering ash through the cherry colored wood. They had only seconds before they'd hit the deck and even though it _felt_ as though the ship had increased its speed slightly, it was clear that they'd never get away in time.

Kat glanced to her left to see the dozen younger black dragons swooping in from the flanks, already spreading out and opening their mouths. Some took a low flight path and spat acid at the ship's hull while others went upward to take an angle looking down on the deck's occupants. _Crap, crap, crap._

She understood resignation, she understood bad situations, she could even empathize with those that wanted to give up, but those people didn't tend to be able to make use of the resources they had available to them. Especially not on a moment's notice like this. Yet everything they had done and been through hadn't prepared Kat for this. How _could_ anything? Not knowing what else to do, she whimpered. "Iloveyou-"

"I know." Bree whispered.

At once the ship stopped flying and plummeted out of the sky like a stone.

Kat screamed as her stomach punched its way up into her throat.

The young dragons sprayed the deck with a thick stream of acid that tore furrows along either side of Bree and Kat, leaving nearly three identically sized sections and two small paths where the wood was beginning to dissolve from half way up the hull. The flying balls of iron sailed past the air the ship had been occupying and narrowly missed the larger dragon, Thabraxis who dived down after the falling ship.

"_Patience, Angel." _A soft whisper caressed the edges of Kathrine's consciousness. It was soothing, powerful and wholly in control. Despite this, though, Kat couldn't help herself as she saw the top of the tree line approaching at a rapid pace. It wouldn't take long and they'd be painting the forest floor. Seconds at most.

Above them, the younger dragons pitched in a wide arc to get their bearings on Bree's decent and follow their father. Almost in time with this, the blue iron balls began a to cork screw towards the earth as Bree turned around to face the horizon. She glanced up calmly and tisked. "You know they'll betray you as soon as you're no longer useful." She said to no one in particular.

Kat stole a glance at the horizon. Their seconds were quickly burning into ash yet the ship continued to drop. "Bree!"

"Hm? Oh, yes. Terribly sorry." She looked up at the dragons and for just a split second she looked like she was going to shout. Instead, the ship jerked backwards, throwing Kat to the deck only a few feet from one of the acid wounds in the wood. The rear end pitched upward just slightly and Bree took a half step forward to brace herself. Kat grabbed one of the rails feebly, hugging it for dear life. "We've been over this, Thabraxis, they want-"

The biggest of the dragons roared loud enough to shake the entire ship. "ENOUGH!"

"Have it your way." Bree looked up at him as the ship began a quicker rearward ascent, giving them just enough room to maneuver away from the fluttering down draft created by the clutch of younger dragons. "You can't say I didn't try." She smiled amiably. "Oh! But, before you act! There's one tiny issue!" The woman slid her hand into her coat pocket and withdrew a thick crystal about half the size of her forearm. It glowed with a shadowy radiance that seemed to absorb light around it, refracting it in its own way. Pulsing with power that even Kat could feel at a distance. "I guess I forgot to destroy this!"

Thabraxis snarled.

"Oops!" She grinned. "Give my regards to Null, would you?!"

"You wouldn't _dare_!" He roared. He hesitated, just for a split second and his children drew back to be nearer him. They looked to one another and then to him for direction even as the iron balls began slowing their spiral, picking up a line of aim towards the retreating ship and darting towards it. "You'll die too!"

"I'm aware! The difference is that one of us will see their patron, the other won't!" Her grin turned decidedly evil. "Have you forgotten who _made_ these things in the first place? Or are you that far gone?"

"Bree. . ." Kat breathed in the name as the balls arced through the air towards her ship ever faster.

Thabraxis's single eye fixed on the two of them while the ship pulled back faster. From behind, Kat could hear the cabin's door open and the calm plodding of four heavy feet across the deck. Nyx's voice rumbled from behind with a calm bass. "Making friends, I see."

"A cold day in the Hells when I'm not-"

The massive dragon spread his wings, looked to the armor plated ship flying above them and then at Bree's nearly destroyed vessel. He beat his wings once and gained altitude while Bree pulled her own ship back all the faster to get away from the flaming iron balls.

Kat released her grip on the railing and tugged on the straps of her back pack, grabbing her brother's longsword and spellbook before she tossed the pack into one of the open slots on the deck. Nyx came over to give her a hand getting up and together they took up positions near enough Bree to be supportive but not necessarily be in the way of anything directed at her. Kathrine opened her spellbook and flipped through it to her Dispel spells. She slapped the book down on the deck, closed her eyes for a moment and quickly drew in her breath through her nose.

"What _are_ you doing, dear?"

"Time! Just give me some time! I can-"

"Time is something we don't have." Nyx growled softly.

"Just give me fifteen-" Kat opened her eyes just in time to see the six iron balls punch into the prow of Bree's ship.

The impact was spectacular.

Flares of blue fire erupted from below deck, sending spears of magical flame through the bulging front end of the ship. The hull hemorrhaged out, trying desperately to contain the explosion but the wood began to crack and splinter sending shards in every direction as the balls tore through the lower decks.

"Well. . ." Bree scoffed irritably when the front end of the ship finally blew out in a massive explosion.

"You're taking this well!" Nyx pushed off to take flight.

"I-" Bree grabbed Kat and flung her towards the rear of the ship. She took a few steps forward, narrowly avoiding a smaller black dragon as it made a pass over the deck. "Do try to pay attention, miss Stoneriver."

Kat looked to the sky and exhaled sharply. "Yeah, I- r-"

"Just do it." Nyx tumbled over the side of the rail. "Long way from any portals. . . We're not going anywhere like this."

Bree turned the ship at a slight angle and began a slow ascent so they were in line with the bottom of the armored ship above them. "I know." She glanced at Kathrine with a brief smile. "It could always be worse!"

"How?! How could it be worse?!"

"Just look up!"

She did. Thabraxis was diving straight for them while his children fanned out to take on the sides of the ship. Some distance above them, the Oghman cult's ship was beginning to turn so their mages could get a clear line of sight down on Bree's ship. Kat didn't need to see this. She grabbed for the only thing she could find comfort in; her brother's sword. She was going to die, but dammit she could die with her family's belongings in tact.

Bree casually twirled the glowing crystal in her hand, waiting until he was only a few dozen feet above their head before she tossed it up and went to catch it. She closed her hand a little too early and it bounced. "Oops!" The woman, calm as could be, fumbled with the gem from one hand to the other before pitching just far enough side ways so it bounced off her hand and fell overboard. "Oh, drat. Butterfingers, you see!" She looked right up at Thabraxis and smiled grimly.

He had a split second to decide to pursue it or kill her.

Kat exhaled sharply as he continued his dive right past the ship.

"That should keep him busy for a moment. Kathrine, dear! Be a gem and grab my dagger from the cabin?"

"R- right!" Kat hauled herself up and turned toward the cabin as the first of the smaller dragons slammed into the deck not even arm's length away. He stood as tall as Kat's chest but easily several times her weight. His sharp teeth gleamed as the frill on the back of his neck fanned out to its full glory. He snarled and weaved his head left and right, daring Kat to approach.

"What's the hurry, fleshling?"

"Uh-" _Shit._

"Young one!" Bree turned her attention briefly to him as the ship banked slightly into an arc. "I don't think you fully understand the gravity of the situation-"

"Silence!" Another of the younger dragons roared as he swept onto the deck. His claws dug furrows into the soft wood. Eyes gleaming, he smiled a twisted grin of absolute superiority. "This is _mine_ now, ape!"

Bree just laughed. "Sure, sure. Come over here and I'll show you how to operate it. You need to be standing in a certain spot!"

Kat swallowed as her hands trembled around her sword. Her arms strained with the effort it took to lift it into a low ready position. She and the dragon nearest her stared at one another for a moment. He hunched his hind quarters down in preparation for the attack.

"LETMEGO!" The other creature snarled. Bree had him in a head lock with an exceedingly calm expression.

"You should know better than to toy with your elders!" Kat spared a quick glance as the young dragon pulled ineffectually on his restraint. Bree didn't spare him anything. "I say, youngling, I think it's time you left!"

The dragon closest to Kat opened his mouth in preparation to spit acid. Kat tightened her grip on her sword, knowing full well there was nothing she could do to get away. With no spells or reagents to use, all she had was her flesh and the four and a half foot piece of steel her brother had taken to war and come back with. She cried out and charged.

_What a hell of a way to die._


	40. Volume 8: Time of Need Chapter 4 End V8

#########################

Author's Note:

This chapter contains a small amount of graphical violence. I tried not to get _too_ bad with it but if such things make you squeamish, please know it takes place in this chapter. It's nearer the end and you'll be given a subtle warning to what might be taking place before it actually gets graphic but it's important for the story later on, I promise.

As always, a big thank you to those that read this and comment. I sincerely hope we'll be continuing this on to the final two volumes soon, but I'm going to take a little break and recharge my batteries in the meantime. Please, if you like or even if you don't like something about this, post a review! I read them all and try to work with them as best I can!

#########################

Chapter 4

Kat's heart pounded in her ears as she charged forward, using both hands to heft the long sword for a plunging strike. Her logical mind, deep down, told her she had no hope of winning this fight but she refused to believe it. She'd stood up to the Zhentarim when they came to her village, she'd worked against countless threats in as many different ways, time and again putting herself on the line. Now wasn't any different. The only _real_ difference is that she _knew_ she couldn't hope to stand a chance against this creature.

The young dragon spit a stream of acid but Kathrine was just a hair too quick. She ducked out of the way as it arced through the air to splatter against the rear cabin. She surged forward under the stream and closed the distance in a second. Mere inches away now, she struggled to get her sword upright for a killing blow. The dragon reared back just out of reach and then plowed forward, snaking his head to the left out of her striking range before he smashed into her chest and knocked her flat on her back.

With a solid 'umph!' that ripped the air from her lungs she slammed into the deck, staring up at the sky. In another beat he was over her, opening his mouth. She was done, she knew it. She'd never be able to help Bree now.

The flat, broad head of the younger dragon turned slightly downward as he inspected his meal to be. Sizing up the best cuts of meat or the places that would likely inflict the most pain. He reared his head back once more, opened his mouth and went to strike her leg.

A tumbling black ball struck the creature right before his teeth would've sunk into her flesh. They rolled end over end, smashed through the rail and shattered it on their way overboard. Kat whimpered and looked to Bree in disbelief as her trembling hand tightened around her brother's sword.

"My dagger if you please?" The woman smiled.

Kat sucked in a breath, trying to steady her nerves. She was better trained than this, she could endure. All she had to do was get on her feet and get moving. That was it. _Yes. . . That's it._ She swallowed, nodded and scrambled for the rear cabin. It was just a little thing but the thought that she was making progress towards enabling them to fight back, that Bree infact _hadn't_ given up gave her the confidence she needed. None of them were quitting and Syler and his ilk weren't getting off free.

Perhaps that was a bit much to hope for but didn't she have the right to hope? How many others had suffered at the cults' hands just so they could get a glimpse of something the gods never intended for mortals to have? Bree's mother and even Bree herself were small parts in a bigger tapestry of pain but their threads were no less important than any of the others woven into it, nor were they any less tightly bound. If Kat could help them unravel it, then she owed it to her friend and as a service to her patron. They could do this. . .

They could do it.

Kathrine found the simple dagger hanging from a leather thong pegged to the wall just inside the rear cabin. She grabbed it and turned back toward the main deck. She crossed the threshold into Nyx's room as flares of multi-colored magic poured in through the newly created hole in the wall. Judging by the sound of it, fireballs and other forms of higher power spells were being sent down on them. An image flashed in her mind's eye of Bree alone on the deck, looking up defiantly at their assaulters. . . And then being hit in the face with one of those fireballs.

She tensed at the door, trying to focus herself for what was to come. The ship had pitched backwards at an odd angle and began a slow decent that was already picking up speed as gravity claimed it in its embrace. "_Oh no. . ._"

With no time left to her, Kat shoved the door open to see the entire deck pock marked with smoldering craters in its once pristine surface. Bree was sat in the center of one of those craters, legs crossed under her and her velvet coat seared into ragged strips that hung from her unblemished skin. She was breathing a bit faster than Kat had ever seen her yet she didn't seem to be anything more than drained.

"Bree! Are you all right?!" Kat ran for her friend but as the ship listed backwards more, she had to struggle to keep up right, almost crawling on all fours to get to the woman. "Bree, Bree, Bree-"

"My dagger." She whispered hoarsely. "I trust you found it?"

"Y-" Not trusting herself, Kat put it in the woman's hands. "Gods, are you okay?"

"In the presence of company such as yours, my fair maiden, how could I be anything other than-" Bree's shoulders slumped back slightly as the entire ship began to slide back more, taking on a heavier rearward cant. "Completely at ease. You know, that does sting a bit. . ." A faint smile pulled at Bree's lips as she leaned forward, taking a deep breath as her hair slid down her shoulders to frame her face. She looked tired. So wholly exhausted that even taking her dagger from its sheath looked as though she might collapse doing so.

"Is there- Bree, how can I help? What do you want me to do?"

"Spells. . ." She touched the dagger to the smoldering wood under her. Her voice was slow and thoughtful but somehow defeated. "Would not go amiss right now, angel."

"I- I didn't have time to prepare any~"

"Then. . . I think it's time you went below." As she uttered the words she touched the tip of the blade to the deck, resting her hand on the pommel, tightening her grip on the handle. She closed her eyes. A half breath later the blade flashed from dull steel to a nearly transparent crystal. Bree got to her knees and pushed down on it, seeming to draw into herself as though the outside world was little more than a distant memory. Her hair whipped about against her face while the ship began a much faster descent. It wouldn't be long now. They were going to crash unless _something_ changed. Bree was doing it. She had to have been. All Kat needed to do was buy her time.

Something screeched behind them. Kat spun into a crouch and hefted her sword with both hands. One of the younger dragons slammed into the deck face first, whipping his tail at the massive sphinx riding his back with all four paws spread out on his shoulders and flanks. Nyx snarled and bit into the back of the creatures long neck, whipping his head back like a cat that caught a mouse. Blood spilled out across the back of the dragon's neck, muffling Nyx's deep throated growl with a faint gurgling noise.

The dragon emitted a strangled cry for help just before Nyx wrenched its neck open.

Kat stumbled a little, squatting down protectively beside Bree. As close as she was, she could _feel_ that Bree was in another place entirely, even though she didn't move at all, her body was slack over the dagger but her brow was furrowed in concentration in ways Kat had known people who meditated frequently to do. What was she trying to do? Did Kat dare disturb her?

Four of the younger dragons swooped in to land on the broken prow of the ship, taking a wide semi-circle facing Kat and Bree. Kat slid her foot back and sucked in a breath. She could buy Bree time, that much she was sure of. All she had to do was keep her wits about her. . .

From behind she heard the beating of several more sets of smaller wings and the distinctive padded thump of a number of other creatures taking up perches along the rail behind their position near the center of the ship. Just as Kat realized it, she heard Nyx spit out a snarl in draconic. One of the creatures responded and he chuffed a care free laugh. "Oh, you're going to taste good!"

The four in front of Kat hopped off the prow in unison. Opened their mouths to spit. Kat took a side step to get their attention off of Bree. _Think, think, think. Come on-_

And then the hells opened up.

An earsplitting roar shattered the skies for a single second, pounding Kat's entire body with the force of pressure so deep and resounding it could have been a dragon's. Kat dropped her blade by reflex and grabbed her ears, trying to focus her mind on what was going on. A sudden wave of fear ripped through her but she couldn't give in to it. She _had_ to protect Bree at all costs.

The younger dragons stopped their advance abruptly, looking at Kat and Bree. Then they looked to Nyx and at once turned tail and jumped from the ship, throwing their wings wide to catch the wind and put distance between themselves and the ship.

Kathrine's body breathed a breath she didn't realize she'd been holding in. She glanced at Bree. The woman was still in her meditative state but didn't look as focused as she had a moment ago. The ship had begun to regain its center and right itself from its fall, leveling out some, yet if she knew it she didn't let on. A glimmer of reflected light caught in the transparent portion of the dagger. There was a hair line crack developing in it.

She looked back to see Nyx carrying the dead body of the young dragon over to the hole in the rail. He looked tired and his back was scored with small furrows where small claws had found purchase in his fur. He cast a glance at her, nodded, and threw the body overboard. Kat took a step to go check his wounds when a hand grabbed her.

Bree held tight for just a moment and then yanked her off her feet into an embrace. It lasted for no more than a second and didn't carry any of its usual warmth, but in that split second she conveyed everything that needed to be said yet not spoken. They were going to get away. They were going to find a way out of this. All they needed was a minute to call their own. She patted Kat's side and let her go, practically throwing her towards Nyx before she went back to her dagger.

Kathrine pulled some prepared salve out of her bandage kit and started to trot over to Nyx. They didn't have much time, the young dragons were already circling around in a wide arc, not yet defeated but not entirely confident they could win any more. She was no more than fifteen feet from the massive sphinx when a massive clawed hand wrapped around her upper body. She screamed in surprise.

Then she saw Thabraxis's row of teeth and one beady eye staring at her with barely contained rage. He was going to rip her apart.

She screamed in terror.

One second the deck was under her and the next it was gone. The massive black dragon was climbing when he'd grabbed her and he didn't stop at all as he flew over the ship, climbing higher. Higher. She didn't look down but she could see the horizon. The forest growing fainter. They _wooshed_ past the main deck of the armored ship. Kat could hear people chanting over the sound of her own screaming. Men. Women. Chanting ritual. . . She was getting light headed.

She was going to die. There was no other way around it. But if he'd wanted to kill her, why not use some other method to do it? Surely he'd had enough of them. His wings beat down again and he threw her upwards into the sky hundreds of feet above the armored ship. Abruptly he turned his body over and aimed back down towards the battered and scorched remains of Bree's vessel. Kat screamed all the more. For whatever good it would do.

At some level her logical mind tried to work out a way out of the situation but she knew, deep down, it was completely futile. The armored ship continued following Bree's as it tried to back out of the striking range of the mages. On the deck, the cultists were working some form of arcane magic Kat had never seen before. Definitely ritualistic, focused on a large circle in the middle of the deck.

She tumbled through the air as her hair whipped about her face. Her eyes stung but she tried to focus on the details around her. The horizon. The forest below. They met a long ways out. Between the horizon and Kat, a wide swath of land had been cleared out and no less than half a dozen huge quadrupedal skeletons laid tail to mouth in a giant circle. She blinked, squinted and brushed her hair out of her eyes. The vision didn't change. _What the hells?_

Her terror forgotten for just a moment, her mind ran rampant with the implications. And then she looked down, realizing what was _really_ going on. Thabraxis had brought her up so she could watch. Nyx looked up at Kat. They made eye contact. She was still falling and had hundreds of feet to go before she'd pass Bree's ship. Thabraxis was plunging towards the ship.

One of the younger dragons looked up at her, growled to another and started to climb up to meet her.

Nyx spread his wings out looking between Bree and Kat. Kat eyed the dragons and then Nyx. She wanted to be saved. She really did. But if she was going to be, she'd have to ask Bree's friend to abandon her. That wasn't right.

_A Stoneriver is a friend without condition._

"I know, dad. . ." She swallowed and pointed at Bree. "SAVE HER!" She shouted at Nyx. Her eyes stung with her own tears. She wanted to cry. She wanted to _live._ But it was. . . It was how it had to be. Bree was strong. She and Nyx could stop the cult if they could get away.

Kathrine Stoneriver closed her eyes and waited for the inevitable.

Screaming of the young dragons could be heard. Flapping of wings. Nyx roared down below as the air rushed past her ears. She sucked in a breath to fight the chill running down her body. It was going to hurt. Probably a lot. But suffering could only last so long. Right?

_That's not terribly comforting._

The beating of wings closing in on her punctuated her thought. It was time. With nothing left to do, she curled into a ball and hugged her knees to her chest. Maybe she could make it hard for them. More wings flapped nearby, faster, faster. The air felt like it was pushing down on her almost. One of the dragons snarled and nipped at Kat's back but couldn't get hold. She winced and bit back on a scream. There'd been too much screaming today.

One of the other dragons clawed at Kat's leg drawing a fresh trench in her thigh, tearing through her clothes and skin with equal ease. She gritted her teeth and whimpered into her knees. From below, the sound of massive wings _phwomping _the air was soon joined by a crackle of electric energy. A spell. The mages had gotten a line of sight on Bree's ship.

Kat felt claws dig into her shoulders and clench tight. Her bones clenched inward as her tender flesh gave way. She couldn't help it. She screamed. Loud. Her body uncoiled and she flailed. Another set of claws grabbed her arm and yet another, her leg. They started to pull in opposite directions. She felt something warm and thick running down her opposite leg. _IDON'TWANTTODIE_

_But its too late. The choice was made._

Kat tried to pull her arms free. To kick. To do _anything._ The four dragons had death grips on her. She could feel her muscles tearing as they pulled in opposite directions. She cried out to the gods above. She didn't want to die. She was a _good_ person. She loved living and loved her patron. And her family. And-. . .

Pain. All she could think of. It blinded her as her shoulders finally gave with a sharp _crack, crack. _She screamed out to the no one who'd hear her. Awake for every second of it, she couldn't do anything but bear the agony. Her muscles started to give and her body started straining even more to keep her in tact.

_Please-_

A sharp _woosh_ of air plowed over her and shadowed the sun from her face. Bathed in that shadow she silently prayed for a merciful death. Crying inside, her mind couldn't form the words but the intent was there. She just wanted it to _end_.

But it didn't end.

The wings in front of her beat faster in some sick display of power. Power over her and everything she'd failed to protect. For her association with Bree, she was condemned to death. But the pulling on her arms and leg stopped. Even through the agony in her chest she could feel the pressure ease up. . . But why?

In the next instant she was falling again. And once more she screamed. Her body hurt all over with such pain that she'd never experienced before. She made the mistake of trying to move her arms only to _feel_ the bones grinding into her chest cavity and, she was sure, poking through her skin. Something warm and wet was sliding up her neck.

She just had to hold on a little longer. Just a little longer. The impact would kill her and she could be free of the pain. Though quietly, she begged the gods to let her pass out first. Her shoulders throbbed with pulsing agony, teasing her with the promise of release that she'd never get. It hurt. All over. Why _couldn't_ she pass out?

A massive clawed hand slapped her in the stomach. Her breath punched its way out of her lungs causing her all the more pain. "AHHH-"

"Relax." Nyx rumbled in her ear. He didn't sound at all relaxed nor happy. "How bad is it?"

Kat couldn't articulate anything resembling a reply. Instead she cried and whimpered. They turned downward slightly and Nyx wrapped his other arm around Kat's shoulder. Through the delusional agony she could hear him sigh in her ear. It was a sigh of loss and fear.

Yet at the same time she could feel the pain in her body begin to subside. It was subtle at first; glimpses of relief and the mending of flesh. But then it hit her full force, a magical burst of positive energy that swelled in her chest and set her shoulders straight, pulled her muscles tight where they should be and mended the tiny aches that followed. It was a piece of heaven.

And then a piece of the hells as she realized Bree wasn't on the ship.

She looked to Nyx as they circled the ship once. It was sliding lazily towards the forest at a pace they could easily keep up with. "Oh no. . ."

"We can't let it crash." He snarled sharply as they approached the deck. He carefully deposited her on one of the less battle damaged spots and dropped his weight down ahead of her by a few feet. "Was there any place to set it down?"

"U- Uh. . ." Kat trembled and held her arms over her body wondering if she really _was_ in tact still. She slumped to her knees and sobbed. The wounds had healed but the phantom pains still throbbed at her body. Reminding her how close she was. How _painful_ death could really be. How could she have been so nieve to think otherwise? How-

"KATHRINE." Nyx roared her name with such ferocity that it threatened to break the wood under her. His voice was sharp even afterwards. "Focus!"

"I-I-I-saw. . . I- I saw a cir-circle. T- That way-" She tried to point.

The sphinx walked a circle quickly and snorted his frustration before walking over to the spot in the deck where the dagger had been. It was broken off and in pieces across the crater with an arc of broken crystalline dust scattered about to connect some of the pieces. Nyx took in a sharp breath as he planted his paws in front of the pieces of the dagger.

It wasn't long before he uttered something that didn't sound at all pleasant. Kat had just enough strength in her to lift her head up. They'd been going forward but the forest was approaching at a quickening pace. The front end _tried_ to come up a bit but whatever force that kept it aloft was leaving it quickly. Nyx's wings outstretched and for a moment it looked like he was going to take off but he locked his feet out and dug his claws into the wood with a solid _tick, tick, tack. _Bracing himself he growled out his frustration.

Kat shuddered into her knees. She couldn't help. She didn't know how. She was as useless a mage as she was a priest. And now she'd simply gotten another friend killed. And the cult would have the Oghman relic. They'd- she'd- failed. Spectacularly. "I'm sorry. . ." She whimpered. "I'm so sorry. We couldn't have thrown it overboard."

Nyx snarled. Below the ship, the tops of some of the taller trees brushed against the hull. "You have it!"

"What?!"

"The artifact!"

The scraping of trees became more insistent as the wind bit into her tattered clothes. A cold chill ran down her spine. She'd known she was going to be captured. But- Kathrine's heart sank as she reached into her pocket and felt the weight of the amulet pressed against her sweaty palm. She felt like throwing up.

A dull roar of breaking branches. The steady _crack, crack, crack_ of hundred year old trees being flattened by the massive ship. The sun sunk into the shadow of the tree line. _Thump_. _Thump. Thump._ Went many more trees. They slammed into something _hard_ and Kat was thrown back against the rear cabin. Chaos and dirt erupted as they plowed a trench through the woods.

_Date Unknown_

_I don't know what to write about but I feel as though I should say something. To whomever finds this, I hope you value your friends as much as I do._

_I hope, even more, that you'll understand why I did what I did after the crash. I pray that the gods will forgive me. _

-Diary of Kathrine Stoneriver


End file.
